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THE    TRIAL    AND    DEATH 


JESUS     CHRIST 


THE  TRIAL   AND   DEATH 

JESUS    CHRISX  ,^^^    ' -'' 

21   HcDotionol    iijistorj)  of  ouv  i'orb'0  JjlaBBton 


JAMES  STALKER,  D.D. 


CRUX   DOMINI   PALMA,   CKDKUS,   CYPKESSUS,   OLIVA 


lefo  f^ork 


A.  C.  ARMSTRONG  AND    SON 

51  East  10'"  Street,  near  Broadway 
1894 


17  h 


Copyright,  1894, 


A.    C.    ARMSTRONG   &  SON. 


TO    MY    WIFE 


PREFACE 

EVER  since  I  wiote,  in  a  contracted  form,  The 
Life  of  Jesus  Christy  the  desire  has  slumbered 
in  my  mind  to  describe  on  a  much  more  extended 
scale  the  closing  passages  of  the  Saviour's  earthly 
history  ;  and,  although  renewed  study  has  deepened 
my  sense  of  the  impossibility  of  doing  these  scenes 
full  justice,  yet  the  subject  has  never  ceased  to  at- 
tract me,  as  being  beyond  all  others  impressive  and 
remunerative. 

The  limits  of  our  Lord's  Passion  are  somewhat 
indeterminate.  Krummacher  begins  with  the  Tri- 
umphal Entry  into  Jerusalem,  Tauler  with  the  Feet- 
washing  before  the  Last  Supper,  and  Rambach  with 
Gethsemane  ;  most  end  with  the  Death  and  Burial  ; 
but  Giimm,  a  Roman  Catholic,  the  latest  writer  on 
the  subject,  means  to  extend  his  Leide7isgeschichte  to 
the  end  of  the  Forty  Days.  Taking  the  word  "  pas- 
sion" in  the  strict  sense,  I  have  commenced  at  the 
point  where,  by  falling  into  the  hands  of  His  ene- 
mies, our  Lord  was  deprived  of  voluntary  activity  ; 
and  I  have   finished  vvith   the  Burial.      No  doubt  the 


PRE  FA  CE 


same  unique  greatness  belongs  to  the  scenes  of  the 
previous  evening  ;  and  I  should  like  to  write  of 
Christ  among  His  Friends  as  I  have  here  written  of 
Him  among  His  Foes  ;  but  for  this  purpose  a  vol- 
ume at  least  as  large  as  the  present  one  Avould  be 
requisite  ;  and  the  portion  here  described  has  an 
obvious  unity  of  its  own. 

The  bibliography  of  the  Passion  is  given  with  con- 
siderable fulness  in  Zockler's  Das  Kreuz  Christi ; 
but  a  good  many  of  the  books  there  enumerated 
may  be  said  to  have  been  superseded  by  the  monu- 
mental work  of  Nebe,  Die  Leidensgeschichte  unsers 
Herrn  Jesu  Christi  (2  vols.,  1881),  which,  though 
not  a  work  of  genius,  is  written  on  so  comprehen- 
sive a  plan  and  with  such  abundance  of  learning 
that  nothing  could  better  serve  the  purpose  of  any- 
one who  wishes  to  draw  the  skeleton  before  painting 
the  picture.  Of  the  numerous  Lives  of  Christ  those 
by  Keim  and  Edersheim  are  worthy  of  special  notice 
in  this  part  of  the  histor}',  because  of  the  fulness  of 
information  from  classical  sources  in  the  one  and 
from  Talmudical  in  the  other.  Steinmeyer  [Leidcns- 
geschichte)  is  valuable  on  apologetic  questions.  On 
the  Seven  Words  from  the  Cross  there  is  an  exten- 
sive special  literature.  Schleiermacher  and  Tholuck 
are  remarkably  good  ;  and  there  are  volumes  by 
Baring-Gould,  Scott  Holland  and  others. 


PREFACE  XI 


In  the  sub-title  I  have  called  this  book  a  Devo- 
tional History,  because  the  subject  is  one  which  has 
to  be  studied  with  the  heart  as  well  as  the  head. 
But  I  have  not  on  this  account  written  in  the  de- 
clamatory and  interrogatory  style  common  in  devo- 
tional works.  I  have  to  confess  that  some  even  of 
the  most  famous  books  on  the  Passion  are  to  me 
intolerably  tedious,  because  they  are  written,  so  to 
speak,  in  oh's  and  ah's.  Surely  this  is  not  essential 
to  devotion.  The  scenes  of  the  Passion  ought,  in- 
deed, to  stir  the  depths  of  the  heart  ;  but  this  pur- 
pose is  best  attained,  not  by  the  narrator  displaying 
his  own  emotions,  but,  as  is  shown  in  the  incom- 
parable model  of  the  Gospels,  by  the  faithful  ex- 
hibition of  the  facts  themselves. 


Glasgow,  1894. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I    THE   ARREST 


Matt.    xxvi.    47-56  ;    Mark   xiv.    43-50 ;    Luke    xxii. 
47~53  ;  John  xviii.  i-ii. 

II.  THE  ECCLESIAS  IICAL  TRIAL iS 

Matt.    xxvi.    57-68  ;     Mark    xiv.    51-65  ;    Luke  xxii. 
54-71  ;  John  xviii.  12-14,  19-21. 

III.  THE  GREAT  DENIAL 31 

Matt.   xxvi.    69-75  ;    Mark    xiv.    66-72  ;    Luke  xxii. 
54-62  ;  John  xviii.  15-1S,  25-7. 

IV.  THE  CIVIL  TRIAL        ....        ^K  .  .      45 

Matt,  xxvii.  11  ;   Mark  xv.  2  ;  Luke  xxiii.  2-4  ;  John 
xviii.  28-38. 

V.  JESUS  AND  HEROD 61 

Luke  xxiii.  5-12. 

VI.  BACK  TO  PILATE         .  .  .  ^     .  .  .  .75 

Matt,    xxvii.    15-23  ;    Mark    xv.    6-14  ;    Luke    xxiii. 
I3~^5  ;  John  xviii.  39,  40. 

VII.  THE  CROWN  OF  THORNS  ......       89 

Matt,  xxvii.  26-30;  Mark  xv.  15-20;  Luke  xxiii.  25  ; 
John  xix.  1-5^. 


XIV  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

VIII.  THE  SHIPWRECK  OF  PILATE       .  .  .  .  ,     loi 

Matt,  xxvii.    24,    25  ;  Mark  xv,    15  ;  Luke  xxiii.  25  ; 
John  xix.  5-16. 

IX.  JUDAS  ISCARIOT 114 

Matt,  xxvii.  3-10  ;  Acts  i.  iS,  ig. 

X.  VIA  DOLOROSA 130 

Matt,  xxvii.  31-3  ;  Mark  xv.  20,  21  ;  Luke  xxiii.  26  ; 
John  xix.  16,  17. 

X..  THE  DAUGHTERS  OF  JERUSALEM       .  .  .  .143 

Luke  xxiii.  27-31. 

XII.  CALVARY 157 

Matt,    xxvii.    33-8  ;  Mark  xv.    27,    28  ;  Luke    xxiii. 
32,  33  ;  John  xix.  18-22. 

XIII.  THE  GROUPS  ROUND  THE  CROSS        .  .  .  .173 

Matt,   xxvii.   39-44,    55,   56  ;   Mark  xv.   29-32  ;   Luke 
xxiii.  35-7,  49  ;  John  xix.  23-5. 

XIV.  THE  FIRST  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS  .  .  .186 

Luke  xxiii.  34. 

XV.  THE  SECOND   WORD   FROM   THE   CROSS      .  .  ,198 

Luke  xxiii.  39-43. 

XVI.  THE   THIRD   WORD    FROM   THE   CROSS         .  .  .    213 

John  xix.  25-27. 

XVII.  THE    FOURTH   WORD   FROM   THE   CROSS     .  .  .226 

Matt,  xxvii.  46-9  ;  Mark  xv.  34-6. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPIER  PAGE 

XVIII.  THE   FIFTH   WORD   FROM    THE   CROSS  .  .  .241 

John  xix.  28. 

XIX.  THE   SIXTH   WORD    FROM   THE   CROSS         .  .  .254 

John  xix.  30. 

XX.  THE   SEVENTH   WORD   FROM   THE  CROSS  .  .     266 

Luke  xxiii.  46, 

XXI.  THE   SIGNS 280 

Matt,  xxvii.   50-4  ;  Mark  xv.  38,  39  ;  Luke  xxiii.  44, 
45,  47- 

XXII.  THE   DEAD   CHRIST     .  .  .  .  ,  .  .293 

John  xix.  31-7. 

XXIII.  THE   BURIAL .3og 

Matt,  xxvii.  57-61  ;  Markxv.  42-7  ,  Luke  xxiii.  50-6  ; 
John  xix.  38-42. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE  ARREST 

OUR  study  of  the  closing  scenes  of  the  life  of 
our  Lord  begins  at  the  point  where  He  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  representatives  of  justice  ;  and 
this  took  place  at  the  gate  of  Gethsemane  and  at 
the  midnight  hour. 

On  the  eastern  side  of  Jerusalem,  the  ground 
slopes  downwards  to  the  bed  of  the  Brook  Kedron  ; 
and  on  the  further  sidcof  the  stream  rises  the  Mount 
of  Olives.  The  side  of  the  hill  was  laid  out  in  gar- 
dens or  orchards  belonging  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
city  ;  and  Gethsemane  was  one  of  these.  There  is 
no  probability  that  the  enclosure  now  pointed  out 
to  pilgrims  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  is  the  actual  spot, 
or  that  the  six  aged  olive  trees  which  it  contains  are 
those  to  the  silent  shadows  of  which  the  Saviour 
used  to  resort  ;  but  the  scene  cannot  have  been  far 
away,  and  the  piety  which  lingers  with  awe  in  the 
traditional  site  cannot  be  much  mistaken. 

The  agony  in  Gethsemane  was  just   over,    when 


2        THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

"  lo,"  as  St.  Matthew  says,  "Judas,  one  of  the 
twelve,  came,  and  with  him  a  great  multitude." 
They  had  come  down  from  the  eastern  gate  of  the 
city  and  were  approaching  the  entrance  to  the  gar- 
den. It  was  full  moon,  and  the  black  mass  was 
easily  visible,  moving  along  the  dusty  road. 

The  arrest  of  Christ  was  not  made  by  two  or  three 
common  officers  of  justice.  The  "  great  multitude" 
has  to  be  taken  literally,  but  not  in  the  sense  of  a 
disorderly  crowd.  As  it  was  at  the  instance  of  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities  that  the  apprehension  took 
place,  their  servants — the  Levitical  police  of  the 
temple — were  to  the  front.  But,  as  Jesus  had  at 
least  eleven  resolute  men  with  Him,  and  these  might 
rouse  incalculable  numbers  of  His  adherents  on  the 
way  to  the  city,  it  had  been  considered  judicious  to 
ask  from  the  Roman  governor  a  division  of  soldiers,* 
which,  at  the  time  of  the  Passover,  was  located  in 
the  fortress  of  Antonia,  overlooking  the  temple,  to 
intervene  in  any  emergency.  And  some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Sanhedrim  had  even  come  themselves, 
so  eager  were  they  to  see  that  the  design  should 
not  miscarry.  This  composite  force  was  armed  with 
swords   and    staves — the  former  weapon  belonging 


*  ^.Tzelpa  =  cohors,  tenth  part  of  legion.      See  Ramsay,  R.A., 
381. 


THE  ARREST 


perhaps  to  the  Roman  soldiers  and  the  latter  to  the 
temple  police — and  they  carried  lanterns  and  torches, 
probably  because  they  expected  to  have  to  hunt  for 
Jesus  and  His  followers  in  the  recesses  of  His  re- 
treat. Altogether  it  was  a  formidable  body  :  they 
were  determined  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure. 


I. 


The  leader  of  them  was  Judas.  Of  the  general 
character  of  this  man,  and  the  nature  of  his  crime, 
enough  will  be  said  later  ;  but  here  we  must  note 
that  there  were  special  aggravations  in  his  mode  of 
carrying  out  his  purpose. 

He  profaned  the  Passover.  The  better  day,  says 
the  proverb,  the  better  deed.  But,  if  a  deed  is  evil, 
it  is  the  worse  if  it  is  done  on  a  sacred  day.  The 
Passover  was  the  most  sacred  season  of  the  entire 
year  ;  and  this  very  evening  was  the  most  sacred  of 
the  Passover  week.  It  was  as  if  a  crime  should  in 
Scotland  be  committed  by  a  member  of  the  Church 
on  the  night  of  a  Communion  Sabbath,  or  in  Eng- 
land on  Christmas  Day. 

He  invaded  the  sanctuary  of  his  Master's  devo- 
tions. Gethsemane  was  a  favourite  resort  of  Jesus  ; 
Judas  had  been  there  with  Him,  and  he  knew  well 
for  what  purpose  He  frequented  it.      But  the  respect 


4       THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

due  to  a  place  of  prayer  did  not  deter  him  ;  on  the 
contrary,  he  took  advantage  of  his  Master's  well- 
known  habit. 

But  the  crowning  profanation,  for  which  humanity 
will  never  forgive  him,  was  the  sign  by  which  he 
had  agreed  to  'make  his  Master  know^n  to  His  ene- 
mies. It  is  probable  that  he  came  on  in  front,  as  if 
he  did  not  belong  to  the  band  behind  ;  and,  hurry- 
ing towards  Jesus,  as  if  to  apprise  Him  of  His  dan- 
ger and  condole  with  Him  on  so  sad  a  misfortune 
as  His  apprehension,  he  flung  himself  on  His  neck, 
sobbing,  "  Master,  Master  !"  and  not  only  did  he 
kiss  Him,  but  he  did  so  repeatedly  or  fervently  :  so 
the  word  signifies.*  As  long  as  there  is  true,  pure 
love  in  the  world,  this  act  will  be  hated  and  despised 
by  everyone  who  has  ever  given  or  received  this 
token  of  affection.  It  was  a  sin  against  the  human 
heart  and  all  its  charities.  But  none  can  feel  its 
horror  as  it  must  have  been  felt  by  Jesus.  That 
night  and  the  next  day  His  face  was  marred  in  many 
ways  :  it  was  furrowed  by  the  bloody  sweat  ;  it  was 
bruised  with  blows  ;  they  spat  upon  it  ;  it  was  rent 
with  thorns  :  but  nothing  went  so  close  to  His  heart 
as   the   profanation   of   this   kiss.      As  another  said, 


*  Karecpi/.rjaev.     It   is   used    of  the    woman  who  was  a  sinner, 
when  she  kissed  the  feet  of  the  Saviour. 


THE  ARREST 


who  had  been  similarly  treated  :  "  It  was  not  an 
enemy  that  reproached  me,  then  I  could  have  borne 
it  ;  neither  was  it  he  that  hated  nie  that  did  magnify 
himself  against  me,  then  I  would  have  hid  myself 
from  him  ;  but  it  was  thou,  a  man  mine  equal,  my 
guide  and  mine  acquaintance  ;  we  took  sweet  coun- 
sel together,  and  walked  to  the  house  of  God  in 
company."  *  Before  the  kiss  was  given,  Jesus  still 
received  him  with  the  old  name  of  .Friend  ;  but, 
after  being  stung  with  it.  He  could  not  keep  back 
the  annihilating  question,  "Judas,  betrayest  thou 
the  Son  of  man  with  a  kiss  ?" 

The  kiss  was  the  sign  of  discipleship.  In  the 
East,  students  used  to  kiss  their  rabbis  ;  and  in  all 
likelihood  this  custom  prevailed  between  Christ  and 
His  disciples.  When  we  become  His  disciples,  we 
may  be  said  to  kiss  Him  ;  and  every  time  we  renew 
the  pledge  of  our  loyalty  we  may  be  said  to  repeat 
this  act.  We  do  so  especially  in  the  Lord's  Supper. 
In  our  baptism  He  may  be  said  to  take  us  up  in  His 
arms  and  kiss  us  ;  in  the  other  sacrament  we  obtain 
the  opportunity  of  returning  this  mark  of  affec- 
tion. 


*  Psalm  Iv.  12-14. 


6        THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

II. 

Probably  Judas,  being  ahead  of  the  band  he  was 
leading,  went  somewhat  into  the  shadows  of  the 
garden  to  reach  Jesus  ;  and  no  doubt  it  was  expected 
that  Jesus  would  try  to  get  away.  But,  instead  of 
doing  so.  He  shook  Himself  free  from  Judas  and, 
coming  forward  at  once  into  the  moonlight,  de- 
manded, "  Whom  seek  ye  ?" 

At  this  they  were  so  startled  that  they  reeled  back 
and,  stepping  one  on  another,  fell  to  the  ground. 

Similar  incidents  are  related  of  famous  men.  The 
Roman  Marius,  for  instance,  was  in  prison  at  Min- 
turnae  when  Sylla  sent  orders  that  he  should  be  put 
to  death.  A  Gaulish  slave  was  sent  to  dispatch 
him  ;  but,  at  the  sight  of  the  man  who  had  shaken 
the  world,  and  who  cried  out,  "  Fellow,  darest  thou 
to  slay  Caius  Marius  ?"  the  soldier  threw  down  his 
weapon  and  fled.* 

There  are  many  indications  scattered  through  the 
Gospels  that,  especially  in  moments  of  high  emo- 
tion, there  was  something  extraordinarily  subduing 
in  the  aspect  and  voice  of  Christ. f  On  the  occasion, 
for  example,  when  He  cleared  the  temple,  the  hard- 

*  Other  instances  in  Siiskind,  Fassionsschtile,  in  loc. 
f  See  fuller  details  in  Imago  Christi,  last  chapter. 


THE  ARREST 


ened  profaners  of  the  place,  though  numerous  and 
powerful,  fled  in  terror  before  Him.  And  the  strik- 
ing notice  of  Him  as  He  was  going  up  to  Jerusalem 
for  the  last  time  will  be  remembered  :  "  Jesus  went 
before  them,  and  they  were  amazed  ;  and,  as  they 
followed,  they  were  afraid." 

On  this  occasion  the  emotion  of  Gethsemane  was 
upon  Him — the  rapt  sense  of  victory  and  of  a  mind 
steeled  to  go  through  with  its  purpose — and  perhaps 
there  remained  on  His  face  some  traces  of  the  Agony, 
which  scared  the  onlookers.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
suppose  that  there  was  anything  preternatural, 
though  part  of  the  terror  of  IJis  captors  may  have 
been  the  dread  lest  He  should  destroy  them  by  a 
miracle.  Evidently  Judas  was  afraid  of  something 
of  this  kind  when  he  said,  **  Take  Him  and  lead 
Him  away  safely." 

The  truth  is,  they  were  caught,  instead  of  catch- 
ing Him.  It  was  a  mean,  treacherous  errand  they  ^ 
were  on.  They  were  employing  a  traitor  as  their 
guide.  They  expected  to  come  upon  Christ,  per- 
haps when  He  was  asleep,  in  silence  and  by  stealth  ; 
or,  if  He  were  awake,  they  thought  that  they  would 
have  to  pursue  Him  into  a  lurking-place,  where  they 
would  find  Him  trembling  and  at  bay.  They  were 
to  surprise  Him,  but,  when  He  came  forth  fearless, 
rapt  and  interrogative.  He  surprised  them,  and  com- 


8      THE  TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

pelled  them  to  take  an  altogether  unexpected  atti- 
tude. He  brought  all  above  board  and  put  them  to 
shame. 

How  ridiculous  now  looked  their  cumbrous  prep- 
arations— all  these  soldiers,  the  swords  and  staves, 
the  torches  and  lanterns,  now  burning  pale  in  the 
clear  moonlight.  Jesus  made  them  feel  it.  He 
made  them  feel  what  manner  of  spirit  they  were  of, 
and  how  utterly  they  had  mistaken  His  views  and 
spirit.  "Whom  seek  ye?"  He  asked  them  again, 
to  compel  them  to  see  that  they  were  not  taking 
Him,  but  that  He  was  giving  Himself  up.  He  was 
completely  master  of  the  situation.  Singling  out 
the  Sanhedrists,  who  probably  at  that  moment 
would  rather  have  kept  in  the  background,  He  de- 
manded, pointing  to  their  excessive  preparations, 
"Be  ye  come  out  as  against  a  thief,  with  swords 
and  staves  ?  When  I  was  daily  with  you  in  the 
temple,  ye  stretched  forth  no  hands  against  Me." 
He,  a  solitary  man,  though  He  knew  how  many  were 
against  Him,  had  not  been  afraid  :  He  taught  daily 
in  the  temple — in  the  most  public  place,  at  the  most 
public  hour.  But  they,  numerous  and  powerful  as 
they  were,  yet  were  afraid,  and  so  they  had  chosen 
the  midnight  hour  for  their  nefarious  purpose. 
"  This  is  your  hour,"  He  said,  "  and  the  power  of 
darkness."     This  midnight  hour  is  your  hour,  be- 


THE   ARREST 


cause  ye  are  sons  of  night,  and  the  power  ye  wield 
against  Me  is  the  power  of  darkness. 

So  spake  the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  !  So  will 
He  speak  on  that  day  when  all  His  enemies  shall  be 
put  under  His  feet.  "  Kiss  the  Son,  lest  He  be 
angry,  and  ye  perish  from  the  way  when  His  wrath 
is  kindled  but  a  little.  Blessed  are  all  they  that  put 
their  trust  in  Him." 


III. 


We  cannot  recall  to  mind  too  often  that  it  was  the 
victory  in  the  Garden  that  accounted  for  this  tri- 
umph outside  the  gate.  The  irresistible  dignity  and 
strength  here  displayed  were  gained  by  w^atching 
and  prayer. 

This,  however,  is  made  still  more  impressively 
clear  by  the  fate  of  those  who  did  not  watch  and 
pray.  On  them  everything  came  as  a  blinding  and 
bewildering  surprise.  They  were  aroused  out  of 
profound  slumber,  and  came  stumbling  forward 
hardly  yet  awake.  When  hands  were  laid  on  Jesus, 
one  of  the  disciples  cried,  "  Shall  we  smite  with  the 
sword  ?"  And,  without  waiting  for  an  answer,  he 
struck.  But  what  a  ridiculous  blow  !  How  like  a 
man  "half-awake  !  Instead  of  the  head,  he  only 
smote  the  ear.     This  blow  would  have  been  dearly 


lo     THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

paid  for  had  not  Jesus,  with  perfect  presence  of 
mind,  interposed  between  Peter  and  the  swords 
which  were  being  drawn  to  cut  him  down.  "  Suffer 
ye  thus  far,"  He  said,  keeping  the  soldiers  back  ; 
and,  touching  the  ear,  He  healed  it,  and  saved  His 
poor  disciple. 

Surely  it  was  even  with  a  smile  that  Jesus  said  to 
Peter,  "  Put  up  again  thy  sword  into  his  place  ;  for 
all  they  that  take  the  sword  shall  perish  with  the 
sword."  Inside  the  scabbard,  not  outside,  was  the 
sword's  place  ;  it  was  out  of  place  in  this  cause  ; 
and  those  who  wield  the  sword  without  just  reason, 
and  without  receiving  the  orders  of  competent 
authority,  are  themselves  liable  to  give  life  for 
life. 

But  it  was  with  the  high-strung  eloquence  with 
which  He  had  spoken  to  His  enemies  that  Jesus 
further  showed  Peter  how  inconsistent  was  his  act. 
It  was  inconsistent  with  his  Master's  dignity  ; 
"  For,"  said  He,  "  if  I  ask  My  Father,  He  would 
presently  give  Me  more  than  twelve  legions  of  an- 
gels ;"  and  what  against  such  a  force  w^ere  this  mis- 
cellaneous band,  numbering  at  the  most  the  tenth 
part  of  a  legion  of  men  ?  It  was  inconsistent  with 
Scripture  :  **  How  then  shall  the  Scriptures  be  ful- 
filled, that  thus  it  must  be?"  It  was  inconsistent 
with  His  own  purpose  and  His  Father's  will  :   "  The 


THE  ARREST  li 


cup   which   My  Father  hath   given   Me,  shall   I   not 
drink  it  ?" 

Poor  Peter  !  On  this  occasion  he  was  thoroughly- 
like  himself.  There  was  a  kind  of  Tightness  and 
nobleness  in  what  he  did  ;  but  it  was  in  the  wrong 
place.  If  he  had  only  been  as  prompt  inside  Geth- 
semane  to  do  what  he  was  bidden  as  outside  it  to  do 
what  he  was  not  bidden  !  How  much  better  if  he 
could  have  drawn  the  spiritual  sword  and  cut  off 
the  ear  which  was  to  be  betrayed  by  a  maid-servant's 
taunt  !  Peter's  conduct  on  this  occasion,  as  often 
on  other  occasions,  showed  how  poor  a  guide  en- 
thusiasrri  is  when  it  is  not  informed  with  the  mind 
and  spirit  of  Christ. 

IV. 

Perhaps  it  was  by  the  recollection  of  how  deeply 
he  had  vowed  to  stick  by  Christ,  even  if  he  should 
have  to  die  with  Him,  that  Peter  was  pricked  on  to 
do  something.  The  others,  however,  had  said  the 
same  thing.  Did  they  remember  it  now  ?  It  is  to 
be  feared,  not  :  the  apparition  of  mortal  danger 
drove  everything  out  of  their  minds  but  the  instinct 
of  self-preservation.  Sometimes,  in  cases  of  severe 
illness,  especially  of  mental  disease,  the  curious 
effect  may  be  observed — that  a  face  into  which  years 


12     THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

of  culture  have  slowly  wrought  the  stamp  of  refine- 
ment and  dignity  entirely  lose?  this,  and  reverts  to 
the  original  peasant  type.  So  the  fright  of  their 
Master's  arrest,  coming  so  suddenly  on  the  prayer- 
less  and  unprepared  disciples,  undid,  for  the  time, 
what  their  years  of  intercourse  with  Him  had  effect- 
ed ;  and  they  sank  back  into  Galilean  fishermen 
again.  This  was  really  what  they  were  from  the 
arrest  to  the  resurrection. 

Here  again  their  conduct  is  in  absolute  contrast 
with  their  Master's.  As  a  mother  bird,  when  her 
brood  is  assailed,  goes  forward  to  meet  the  enemy, 
or  as  a  good  shepherd  stands  forth  between  his  flock 
and  danger,  so  Jesus,  when  His  captors  drew  nigh, 
threw  Himself  between  them  and  His  followers.  It 
was  partly  with  this  in  view  that  He  went  so  boldly 
out  and  concentrated  attention  on  Himself  by  the 
challenge,  "Whom  seek  ye?"  When  they  replied, 
"  Jesus  of  Nazareth,"  He  said,  "  I  am  He  :  if  there- 
fore ye  seek  Me,  let  these  go  their  wa}-."  And  the 
fright  into  which  they  were  thrown  made  them  for- 
get His  followers  in  their  anxiety  to  secure  Himself. 

This  was  as  He  intended.  St.  John,  in  narrating 
it,  makes  the  curious  remark,  that  this  was  done 
that  the  saying  might  be  fulfilled  which  He  spake, 
"  Of  them  which  Thou  gavest  Me  have  I  lost 
none."     This  saying  occurs  in  His  great  intercessory 


THE   ARREST  1 3 


prayer,  offered  at  the  first  Communion  table  ;  but 
in  its  original  place  it  evidently  means  that  He  had 
lost  none  of  them  in  a  spiritual  sense,  whereas  here 
it  seems  to  have  only  the  sense  of  losing  any  of  them 
by  the  swords  of  the  soldiers  or  by  the  cross,  if  they 
h3.d  been  arrested  with  Him.  But  a  deep  hint  un- 
derlies this  surface  meaning.  St.  John  suggests 
that,  if  any  of  them  had  been  taken  along  with  Him, 
the  likelihood  is  that  they  would  have  been  unequal 
to  the  crisis  :  they  would  have  denied  Him,  and  so, 
in  the  sadder  sense,  would  have  been  lost. 

Jesus,  knowing  too  well  that  this  was  the  state  of 
the  case,  made  for  them  a  way  of  escape,  and  "  they 
all  forsook  Him  and  fled."  It  was  perhaps  as  well, 
for  they  might  have  done  worse.  Yet  what  an  anti- 
climax to  the  asseveration  which  everyone  of  them 
had  made  that  very  evening,  "  If  I  should  die  with 
Thee,  I  will  not  deny  Thee  in  any  wise  !"  I  have 
sometimes  thought  what  an  honour  it  would  have 
been  to  Christianity,  what  a  golden  leaf  in  the  his- 
tory of  human  nature,  had  one  or  two  of  them — say, 
the  brothers  James  and  John — been  strong  enough 
to  go  with  Him  to  prison  and  to  death.  We  should, 
indeed,  have  missed  St.  John's  writings  in  that  case 
— his  Revelation,  Gospel  and  Epistles.  But  what  a 
revelation  that  would  have  been,  what  a  gospel, 
what  a  living  epistle  ! 


14     THE  TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

It  was  not,  however,  to  be.  Jesus  had  to  go  un- 
accompanied :  "  I  have  trodden  the  winepress  alone  ; 
and  of  the  people  there  was  none  with  Me-."  So 
they  **  bound  Him  and  led  Him  away." 


CHAPTER    II. 
THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  TRIAL 

OVER  the  Kedron,  up  the  slope  to  the  city, 
through  the  gates,  along  the  silent  streets,  the 
procession  passed,  with  Jesus  in  the  midst  ;  mid- 
night stragglers,  perhaps,  hurrying  forward  from 
point  to  point  to  ask  what  was  ado,  and  peering 
towards  the  Prisoner's  face,  before  they  diverged 
again  towards  their  own  homes.*  He  was  con- 
ducted to  the  residence  of  the  high  priest,  where 
His  trial  ensued. 


*  Here  would  come  in  the  curious  little  notice  in  St.  Mark  : 
^'  And  there  followed  Him  a  certain  young  man,  having  a  linen 
cloth  cast  about  his  naked  body  ;  and  the  young  men  laid  hold 
on  him  ;  and  he  left  the  linen  cloth  and  fled  from  them  naked"  ; 
on  which  I  have  not  commented,  not  well  knowing,  in  truth, 
what  to  make  of  it.  It  may  be  designed  to  show  the  rudeness 
of  the  soldiery,  and  the  peril  in  which  any  follower  of  Jesus 
would  have  been  had  he  been  caught.  Some  have  supposed 
that  the  young  man  was  St.  Mark,  and  that  this  is  the  painter's 
signature  in  an  obscure  corner  of  his  picture]  (See  Holzmann 
in  Handcommentar  zum  Neuen  Testament.')  In  the  first  volume 
of  the  Expositor  there  is  a  paper  on  the  subject  by  Dr.  Cox,  but 
it  does  not  throw  much  light  on  it. 


l6     THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

Jesus  had  to  undergo  two  trials — the  one  ecclesi- 
astical, the  other  civil  ;  the  one  before  Caiaphas  the 
high  priest,  the  other  before  Pontius  Pilate  the  gov- 
ernor. 

The  reason  of  this  was,  that  Judaea  was  at  that 
time  under  Roman  rule,  forming  a  portion  of  the 
Roman  province  of  Syria  and  administered  by  a 
Roman  official,  who  resided  in  the  splendid  new  sea- 
port of  Caesarea,  fifty  miles  away  from  Jerusalem, 
but  had  also  a  palace  in  Jerusalem,  which  he  occa- 
sionally visited. 

It  was  not  the  policy  of  Rome  to  strip  the  coun- 
tries of  which  she  became  mistress  of  all  power. 
She  flattered  them  by  leaving  in  their  hands  at  least 
the  insignia  of  self-government,  and  she  conceded 
to  them  as  much  home  rule  as  was  compatible  with 
the  retention  of  her  paramount  authority.  She  was 
specially  tolerant  in  matters  of  religion.  Thus  the 
ancient  ecclesiastical  tribunal  of  the  Jews,  the  Sanhe- 
drim, was  still  allowed  to  try  all  religious  questions 
and  punish  offenders.  Only,  if  the  sentence  chanced 
to  be  a  capital  one,  the  case  had  to  be  re- tried  by 
the  governor,  and  the  carrying  out  of  the  sentence, 
if  it  was  confirmed,  devolved  upon  him. 

It  was  at  the  instance  of  the  ecclesiastical  authori- 
ties that  Jesus  was  arrested,  and  they  condemned 
Him  to  death  ;  but  they  were  not  at  liberty  to  carry 


THE  ECCLESIASTICAL    TRIAL  17 

out  their  sentence  :  they  had  to  take  Him  before 
Pilate,  who  chanced  at  the  time  to  be  in  the  city, 
and  he  tried  the  case  over  again,  they  of  course 
being  the  accusers  at  his  bar. 

Not  only  were  there  two  trials,  but  in  each  trial 
there  were  three  separate  stages  or  acts.  In  the 
first,  cr  ecclesiastical  trial,  Jesus  had  first  to  appear 
before  Annas,  then  before  Caiaphas  and  the  Sanhe- 
drim during  the  night,  and  again  before  the  same 
body  after  daybreak.  And  in  the  second,  or  civil 
trial,  He  appeared  first  before  Pilate,  who  refused 
to  confirm  the  judgment  of  the  Jews  ;  then  Pilate 
attempted  to  rid  himself  of  the  case  by  sending  the 
Culprit  to  Herod  of  Galilee,  who  happened  also  to 
be  at  the  time  in  Jerusalem  ;  but  the  case  came 
back  to  the  Roman  governor  again,  and,  against  his 
conscience,  he  confirmed  the  capital  sentence. 

But  let  me  explain  more  fully  what  were  the  three 
acts  in  the  ecclesiastical  trial.* 

Jesus,  we  are  informed  by  St.  John,  was  taken 
first  to  Annas.  This  was  an  old  man  of  seventy 
years,  who  had  been  high  priest  twenty  years  before. 
As  many  as  five  of  his  sons  succeeded  him  in  this 
office,  which  at  that  period  was  not  a  life  appoint- 


*  On  the    Sanhedrim  and  the  high  priests  see   Schiirer,    The 
Jewish  People  in  the  Time  of  Christ,  div.  ii.,  vol.  i. 


THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 


ment,  but  was  generally  held  only  for  a  short  time  ; 
and  the  reigning  high  priest  at  this  time,  Caiaphas, 
was  his  son-in-law.  Annas  was  a  man  of  very  great 
consequence,  the  virtual  head  of  ecclesiastical  affairs, 
though  Caiaphas  was  the  nominal  head.  He  had 
come  originally  from  Alexandria  in  Egypt  on  the 
invitation  of  Herod  the  Great.  He  and  his  family 
were  an  able,  ambitious  and  arrogant  race.  As 
their  numbers  multiplied,  they  became  a  sort  of  rul- 
ing caste,  pushing  themselves  into  all  important 
offices.  They  were  Sadducees,  and  were  perfect 
types  of  that  party — cold,  haughty,  worldly.  They 
were  intensely  unpopular  in  the  country  ;  but  they 
were  feared  as  much  as  they  were  disliked.  Greedy 
of  gain,  they  ground  the  people  with  heavy  ritual 
imposts.  It  is  said  that  the  traffic  within  the  courts 
of  the  temple,  which  Jesus  condemned  so  sternly  a 
few  days  before,  was  carried  on  not  only  with  their 
connivance  but  for  their  enrichment.  If  this  was 
the  case,  the  conduct  of  Jesus  on  that  occasion  may 
have  profoundly  incensed  the  high-priestly  caste 
against  Him. 

Indeed,  it  was  probably  the  depth  of  his  hatred 
which  made  Annas  wish  to  see  Jesus  in  the  hands 
of  justice.  The  wary  Sadducee  had  in  all  likelihood 
taken  a  leading  part  in  the  transaction  with  Judas 
and  in  the  sending  out  of  the  troops  for  Christ's  ap- 


THE  ECCLESIASTICAL    TRIAL  19 


prehension.  He,  therefore,  waited  out  of  bed  to 
see  what  the  upshot  was  to  be  ;  and  those  who  took 
Jesus  brought  Him  to  Annas  first.  But  whatever 
interrogation  Anna3  may  have  subjected  Him  to 
was  entirely  informal.* 

It  allowed  time,  however,  to  get  together  the 
Sanhedrim.  Messengers  were  dispatched  to  scour 
the  city  for  the  members  at  the  midnight  hour,  be- 
cause the  case  was  urgent  and  could  not  brook  de- 
lay. None  knew  what  might  happen  if  the  multi- 
tude, when  it  awoke  in  the  morning,  found  the  pop- 
ular Teacher  in  the  hands  of  His  unpopular  enemies. 
But,  if  the  trial  were  all  over  before  daybreak  and 
Jesus  already  in  the  strong  hands  of  the  Romans 
before  the  multitude  had  learnt  that  anything  was 
going  on,  there  would  be  nothing  to  fear.  So  the 
Sanhedrim  was  assembled  under  cloud  of  night  ; 
and  the  proceedings  went  forward  in  the  small  hours 
of  the  morning  in  the  house  of  Caiaphas,  to  which 
Jesus  had  been  removed. 

This  was  not  strictly  legal,  however,  because  the 
letter  of  the  law  did  not  allow  this  court  to  meet  by 
night.  On  this  account,  although  the  proceedings 
were  complete  and  the  sentence  agreed  upon  during 
the  night,  it  was   considered    necessary  to   hold  an- 

*  This,  many  think,  is  what  is  given  in  St.  John. 


20     THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIS! 

other  sitting  at  daybreak.  This  was  the  third  stage 
of  the  trial  ;  but  it  was  merely  a  brief  rehearsal,  for 
form's  sake,  of  what  had  been  already  done.*  There- 
fore, we  must  return  to  the  proceedings  during  the 
night,  which  contain  the  kernel  of  the  matter. 

Imagine,  then,  a  large  room  forming  one  side  of 
the  court  of  an  Oriental  house,  from  which  it  is  sepa- 
rated only  by  a  row  of  pillars,  so  that  what  is  going 
on  in  the  lighted  interior  is  visible  to  those  outside. 
The  room  is  semicircular.  Round  the  arc  of  the 
semicircle  the  half-hundred  or  more  \  members  sit 
on  a  divan.  Caiaphas,  the  president,  occupies  a 
kind  of  throne  in  the  centre  of  the  opposite  wall. 
In  front  stands  the  Accused,  facing  him,  with  the 
jailers  on  the  one  side  and  the  witnesses  on  the 
other. 

How  ought  any  trial  to  commence  ?  Surely  with 
a  clear  statement  of  the  crime  alleged  and  with  the 
production  of  witnesses  to  support  the  charge.  But, 
instead  of  beginning  in  this  way,  "  the  high  priest 
asked  Jesus  of  His  disciples  and  of  His  doctrine." 

The  insinuation  was  that  He  was  multiplying  dis- 
ciples for  some  secret  design   and  teaching  them  a 


*  Many  think  that  this  is  what  is  given  in  St.  Luke. 

f  The  full  number  was  seventy-one,  including  the  president. 


THE   ECCLESIASTICAL    TRIAL 


secret  doctrine,  which  might  be  construed  into  a 
project  of  revolution.  Jesus,  still  throbbing  with 
the  indignity  of  being  arrested  under  cloud  of  night, 
as  if  He  were  anxious  to  escape,  and  by  a  force  so 
large  as  to  suggest  that  He  was  the  head  of  a  revo- 
lutionary band,  replied,  with  lofty  self-conscious- 
ness, "  Why  askest  thou  Me  ?  Ask  them  that  heard 
Me  what  I  have  said  unto  them  ;  behold,  they  know 
what  I  said."  Why  had  they  arrested  Him  if  they 
had  yet  to  learn  what  He  had  said  and  done  ?  They 
were  trying  to  make  Him  out  to  be  an  underground 
schemer  ;  but  they,  with  their  arrests  in  secrecy  and 
their  midnight  trials,  were  themselves  the  sons  of 
darkness. 

Such  simple  and  courageous  speech  was  alien  to 
that  place,  which  knew  only  the  whining  of  sup- 
pliants, the  smooth  flatteries  of  sycophants,  and  the 
diplomatic  phrases  of  advocates  ;  and  a  jailer,  per- 
haps seeing  the  indignant  blush  mount  into  the  face 
of  the  high  priest,  clenched  his  fist  and  struck  Jesus 
on  the  mouth,  asking,  "  Answerest  Thou  the  high 
priest  so  ?"  Poor  hireling  !  better  for  him  that  his 
hand  had  withered  ere  it  struck  that  blow.  Almost 
the  same  thing  once  happened  to  St.  Paul  in  the 
same  place,  and  he  could  not  help  hurling  back  a 
stinging  epithet  of  contempt  and  indignation.  Jesus 
was  betrayed  into  no  such  loss  of  temper,    ^ut  what 


22     THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

shall  be  said  of  a  tribunal,  and  an  ecclesiastical  tri- 
bunal, which  could  allow  an  untried  Prisoner  to  be 
thus  abused  in  open  court  by  one  of  its  minions  ? 

The  high  priest  had,  however,  been  stopped  on 
the  tack  which  he  had  first  tried,  and  was  compelled 
to  do  what  he  ought  to  have  begun  with — to  call 
witnesses.  But  this,  too,  turned  out  a  pitiful  fail- 
ure. They  had  not  had  time  to  get  a  charge  prop- 
erly made  out  and  witnesses  cited  ;  and  there  was 
no  time  to  wait.  Evidence  had  to  be  extemporized  ; 
and  it  was  swept  up  apparently  from  the  underlings 
and  hangers  on  of  the  court.  It  is  expressly  said 
by  St.  Matthew  that  "  they  sought  false  witness 
against  Jesus  to  put  Him  to  death."  To  put  Him 
to  death  was  what  in  their  hearts  they  were  resolved 
upon, — they  were  only  trying  to  trump  up  a  legal 
pretext,  and  they  were  not  scrupulous.  The  attempt 
was,  however,  far  from  successful.  The  witnesses 
could  not  be  got  to  agree  together  or  to  tell  a  con- 
sistent story.  Many  were  tried,  but  the  fiasco  grew 
more  and  more  ridiculous. 

At  length  two  were  got  to  agree  about  something 
they  had  heard  from  Him,  out  of  which,  it  was 
hoped,  a  charge  could  be  constructed.  They  had 
heard  Him  say,  "  I  will  destroy  this  temple  that  is 
made  with  hands,  and  within  three  days  I  will  build 
another  made  without  hands."     It  was  a  sentence 


THE   ECCLESIASTICAL    TRIAL  23 

of  His  early  ministry,  obviously  of  high  poetic  mean- 
ing, which  they  were  reproducing  as  the  vulgarest 
prose  ;  although,  even  thus  interpreted,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  see  what  they  could  have  made  of  it  ;  be- 
cause, if  the  first  half  of  it  meant  that  He  was  to 
destroy  the  temple,  the  second  promised  to  restore 
it  again.  The  high  priest  saw  too  well  that  they  were 
making  nothing  of  it  ;  and,  starting  up  and  springing 
forward,  he  demanded  of  Jesus,  "  Answerest  Thou 
nothing  ?  What  is  it  which  these  witness  against 
Thee  ?' '  He  affected  to  believe  that  it  was  something 
of  enormity  that  had  been  alleged  ;  but  it  was  really 
because  he  knew  that  nothing  could  be  founded  on 
it  that  he  gave  way  to  such  unseemly  excitement. 

Jesus  had  looked  on  in  absolute  silence  while  the 
witnesses  against  Him  were  annihilating  one  an- 
other ;  nor  did  He  now  answer  a  word  in  response 
to  the  high  priest's  interruption.  He  did  not  need 
to  speak  :  silence  spoke  better  than  the  loudest 
words  could  have  done.  It  brought  home  to  His 
judges  the  ridiculousness  and  the  shamefulness  of 
their  position.  Even  their  hardened  consciences 
began  to  be  uneasy,  as  that  calm  Face  looked  down 
on  them  and  their  pi'ocedure  with  silent  dignity. 
It  was  by  the  uneasiness  which  he  was  feeling  that 
the  high  priest  was  made  so  loud  and  shrill. 

In  short,  he   had   been   beaten  along  this  second 


24     THE  TRIAL  AND  DBA  TH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 


line  quite  as  completely  as  he  had  been  along  the 
first.  But  he  had  still  a  last  card,  and  now  he 
played  it.  Returning  to  his  throne  and  confronting 
Jesus  with  theatrical  solemnity,  he  said,  "  I  adjure 
Thee  by  the  living  God  that  Thou  tell  us  whether 
Thou  be  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God."  That  is  to 
say,  he  put  Him  on  oath  to  tell  what  He  claimed  to 
be  ;  for  among  the  Jews  the  oath  was  pronounced 
by  the  judge,  not  by  the  prisoner. 

This  was  one  of  the  great  moments  in  the  life  of 
Christ.  Apparently  He  recognised  the  right  of  the 
high  priest  to  put  Him  on  oath  ;  or  at  least  He  saw 
that  silence  now  mig"ht  be  construed  into  the  with- 
drawal of  His  claims.  He  knew,  indeed,  that  the 
question  was  put  merely  for  the  purpose  of  incrimi- 
nating Him,  and  that  to  answer  it  meant  death  to 
Himself.  But  He  who  had  silenced  those  by  whom 
the  title  of  Messiah  had  been  thrust  upon  Him,  when 
they  wished  to  make  Him  a  king,  now  claimed  the 
title  when  it  was  the  signal  for  condemnation.  De- 
cidedly and  solemnly  He  answered,  "  Yes,  I  am"  ; 
and,  as  if  the  crisis  had  caused  within  Him  a  great 
access  of  self-consciousness,  He  proceeded,  "  Here- 
after shall  ye  see  the  Son  of  Man  sitting  on  the  right 
hand  of  power  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven.  "* 

*  See  Psalm  ex.  i,  and  Dan.  vii.  13. 


THE  ECCLESIASTICAL    TRIAL 


For  the  moment  they  were  His  judges,  but  one  day 
He  would  be  their  Judge  ;  it  was  only  of  His  earthly 
life  that  they  could  dispose,  but  He  would  have  to 
dispose  of  their  eternal  destiny. 

It  has  often  been  said  that  Christians  have  claimed 
for  Christ  what  He  never  claimed  for  Himself  ;  that 
He  never  claimed  to  be  any  more  than  a  man,  but 
they  have  made  Him  a  God.  But  this  great  state- 
ment, made  upon  oath,  must  impress  every  honest 
mind.  Every  effort  has,  indeed,  been  made  to  de- 
plete its  terms  of  their  importance  and  to  reduce 
them  to  the  lowest  possible  value.  It  is  argued,  for 
example,  that,  when  the  high  priest  asked  if  He 
were  *  *  the  Son  of  God, ' '  he  meant  no  more  than  when 
he  asked  if  He  were  ' '  the  Christ. "  But  what  is  to  be 
said  of  Christ's  description  of  Himself  as  "  sitting  on 
the  right  hand  of  power  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of 
heaven"  ?  Can  He  who  is  to  be  the  Judge  of  men, 
searching  their  hearts  to  the  bottom,  estimating  the 
value  of  their  performances,  and,  in  accordance  with 
these  estimates,  fixing  their  eternal  station  and  de- 
gree, be  a  mere  man  ?  The  greatest  and  the  wisest  of 
men  are  well  aware  that  in  the  history  of  every  brother 
man,  and  even  in  the  heart  of  a  little  child,  there  aie 
secrets  and  mysteries  which  they  cannot  fathom.  No 
mere  man  can  accurately  measure  the  character  of  a 
fellow-creature  ;  he  cannot  even  estimate  his  own. 


26    THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

How  this  great  confession  lifts  the  whole  scene  ! 
We  see  no  longer  these  small  men  and  their  sordid 
proceedings  ;  but  the  Son  of  man  bearing  witness 
to  Himself  in  the  audience  of  the  universe.  How 
little  we  care  now  what  the  Jewish  judges  will  say- 
about  Him  !  This  great  confession  reverberates 
down  the  ages,  and  the  heart  of  the  world,  as  it 
hears  it  from  His  lips,  says.  Amen. 

The  high  priest  had  achieved  his  end  at  last.  As 
a  high  priest  was  expected  to  do  when  he  heard 
blasphemy,  he  rent  his  clothes,  and,  turning  to  his 
colleagues,  he  said,  **  What  need  have  we  of  wit- 
nesses ?  behold,  now  ye  have  heard  His  blasphemy." 
And  they  all  assented  that  Jesus  was  guilty,  and 
that  the  sentence  must  be  death. 

Sometimes  good-hearted  Bible-readers,  in  perus- 
ing these  scenes,  are  troubled  with  the  thought  that 
the  judges  of  Jesus  were  conscientious.  Was  it  not 
their  duty,  when  anyone  came  forward  with  Mes- 
sianic pretensions,  to  judge  whether  or  not  his  claim 
was  just  ?  and  did  they  not  honestly  believe  that 
Jesus  was  not  what  He  professed  to  be  ?  No  doubt 
they  did  honestly  believe  so.  We  must  ascend  to  a 
much  earlier  period  to  be  able  to  judge  their  con- 
duct accurately.  It  was  when  the  claims  of  Jesus 
were  first  submitted  to  them   that  they  went  astray. 


THE   ECCLESIASTICAL    TRIAL  27 

He,  being  such  as  He  was,  could  only  have  been 
welcomed  and  appreciated  by  expectant,  receptive, 
holy  minds.  The  ecclesiastical  authorities  of  Judsea 
in  that  age  were  anything  but  expectant,  receptive 
and  holy.  They  were  totally  incapable  of  under- 
standing Him,  and  saw  no  beauty  that  they  should 
desire  Him.  As  He  often  told  them  Himself,  being 
such  as  they  were,  they  could  not  believe.  The 
fault  lay  not  so  much  in  what  they  did  as  in  what 
they  were.  Being  in  the  wrong  path,  they  went 
forward  to  the  end.  It  may  be  said  that  they  walked 
according  to  their  light  ;  but  the  light  that  was  in 
them  was  darkness.  Their  proceedings,  however, 
on  this  occasion  will  not  tend  to  soften  the  heart  of 
anyone  who  looks  into  them  carefully.  They  had 
hardly  the  least  show  of  justice.  There  was  no 
regular  charge  or  regular  evidence,  and  no  thought 
whatever  of  allowing  the  Accused  to  bring  counter- 
evidence  ;  the  same  persons  were  both  accusers  and 
judges  ;  the  sentence  was  a  foregone  conclusion  ; 
and  the  entire  proceedings  consisted  of  a  series  of 
devices  to  force  the  Accused  into  some  statement 
which  would  supply  a  colourable  pretext  for  con- 
demning Him.* 

*  Even  Jost,  the  Jewish  historian,  calls  it  a  murder  ;  but  he 
does  not  believe  that  there  was  an  actual  trial  ;  and  in  this 
Edersheim  agrees  with  him. 


28    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

But  it  was  by  what  ensued  after  the  sentence  of 
condemnation  was  passed  that  these  men  cut  them- 
selves off  forever  from  the  sympathy  of  the  tolerant 
and  generous.  A  court  of  law  ought  to  be  a  place 
of  dignity  ;  when  a  great  issue  is  tried  and  a  solemn 
judgment  passed,  it  ought  to  impress  the  judges 
themselves  ;  even  the  condemned,  when  a  death 
sentence  has  been  passed,  ought  to  be  hedged  round 
with  a  certain  awe  and  respect.  But  that  blow  in- 
flicted with  impunity  at  the  commencement  of  the 
trial  by  a  minion  of  the  court  was  too  clear  an  index 
of  the  state  of  mind  of  all  present.  There  was  no 
solemnity  or  greatness  of  any  kind  in  their  thoughts  ; 
nothing  but  resentment  and  spite  at  Him  who  had 
thwarted  and  defied  them,  lessened  them  in  the  pub- 
lic estimation  and  stopped  their  unholy  gains.  A 
perfect  sea  of  such  feelings  had  long  been  gather- 
ing in  their  hearts  ;  and  now,  when  the  opportunity 
came,  it  broke  loose  upon  Him.  They  struck  Him 
with  their  sticks  ;  they  spat  in  His  face  ;  they  drew 
something  over  His  head  and,  smiting  Him  again, 
cried,  "  Christ,  prophesy  who  smote  Thee."  *  One 
would  wish  to  believe  that  it  was  only  by  the  miser- 
able underlings   that  such   things   were  done  ;    but 

*  In  allusion  to  His  claim  to  be  the  Messianic  Prophet.  The 
Roman  soldiers,  on  the  other  hand,  ridiculed  His  claim  to  be  a 
King. 


THE   ECCLESIASTICAL    TIBIAL  29 

the  narrative  makes  it  too  clear  that  the  masters  led 
the  way  and  the  servants  followed. 

There  are  terrible  things  in  man.  There  arc  some 
depths  in  human  nature  into  which  it  is  scarcely 
safe  to  look.  It  was  by  the  very  perfection  of 
Christ  that  the  uttermost  evil  of  His  enemies  was 
brought  out.  There  is  a  passage  in  "  Paradise 
Lost,"  where  a  band  of  angels,  sent  out  to  scour 
Paradise  in  search  of  Satan,  who  is  hidden  in  the 
garden,  discover  him  in  the  shape  of  a  toad  "  squat 
at  the  ear  of  Eve."  Ithuriel,  one  of  the  band, 
touches  him  with  his  spear,  whereat,  surprised^  he 
starts  up  in  his  own  shape, — 

"  for  no  falsehood  can  endure 
Touch  of  celestial  temper,  but  returns 
Of  force  to  its  own  likeness.  " 

But  the  touch  of  perfect  goodness  has  often  the  op- 
posite effect  :  it  transforms  the  angel  into  the  toad, 
which  is  evil's  own  likeness. 

Christ  was  now  getting  into  close  grips  with  the 
enemy  He  had  come  to  this  world  to  overcome  ; 
and,  as  it  clutched  Him  for  the  final  wrestle,  it  ex- 
hibited all  its  ugliness  and  discharged  all  its  venom.* 

*  "  The  central  figure  is  the  holiest  Person  in  history  ,  but 
round  Him  stand  or  strive  the  most  opposed  and  contrasted 
moral  types.  .  .  .  The  men  who  touch  Him  in  this  supreme 
hour  of  His  history  do  so  only  to  have  their  essential  characters 
disclosed." — Fairbairn. 


so     THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

The  claw  of  the  dragon  was  in  His  flesh,  and  its 
foul  breath  in  His  mouth.  We  cannot  conceive 
what  such  insult  and  dishonour  must  have  been  to 
His  sensitive  and  regal  mind.  But  He  rallied  His 
heart  to  endure  and  not  to  faint  ;  for  He  had  come 
to  be  the  death  of  sin,  and  its  death  was  to  be  the 
salvation  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE  GREAT  DENIAL 

'TT^O  the  ecclesiastical  trial  of  our  Lord  there  is  a 
^  side-piece,  over  which  we  must  linger  before 
proceeding  to  the  civil  trial.  At  the  very  hour  when 
in  the  hall  of  the  high  priest's  house  Christ  was 
uttering  His  great  confession,  one  of  His  disciples 
was,  in  the  court  of  the  same  building,  pouring  out 
denial  after  denial. 

I. 

,  When  Jesus  was  bound  in  Gethsemane  and  led 
away  back  to  Jerusalem,  all  His  disciples  forsook 
Him  and  fled.  They  disappeared,  I  suppose,  among 
the  bushes  and  trees  of  the  garden  and  escaped  into 
the  surrounding  country  or  wherever  they  thought 
they  would  be  safe. 

But  two  of  the  Twelve— St.  Peter  and  St.  John, 
who  tells  the  story — soon  rallied  from  the  first  panic 
and  followed,  at  a  distance,*  the  band  in  whose 
midst  their  Master  was.      Keeping  in  the  shadow  of 

*  fiUKpoQev. 


32     THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

the  trees  by  the  roadside,  keeping  in  the  shadow  of 
the  houses  in  the  streets,  they  stole  after  the  moving 
mass.  At  last,  when  it  got  near  its  destination — the 
palace  of  the  high  priest — they  hurried  forward  ; 
and  St.  John  went  in  with  the  crowd  ;  but  some- 
how, probably  through  irresolution,  St.  Peter  was 
left  outside  in  the  street  ;  and  the  door  was  shut. 

To  understand  what  follows,  it  is  necessary  to  de- 
scribe more  in  detail  the  construction  of  such  a 
house  as  the  high  priest's  palace  ;  for  it  was  very 
unlike  most  of  our  houses.  A  Western  house  looks 
into  the  street,  but  an  Oriental  into  its  own  interior, 
having  no  opening  to  the  front  except  a  great  arched 
gateway,  shut  with  a  heavy  door  or  gate.  When 
this  door  is  opened,  it  discloses  a  broad  passage, 
penetrating  the  front  building  and  leading  into  a 
square,  paved  courtyard,  open  to  the  sky,  round 
which  the  house  is  built,  and  into  which  its  rooms, 
both  upstairs  and  downstairs,  look.  A  similar  ar- 
rangement is  to  be  seen  in  some  large  warehouses 
in  our  own  cities,  or  you  may  have  seen  it  in  large 
hotels  on  the  Continent.  It  only  requires  to  be 
added  that  on  the  side  of  the  passage,  inside  the 
outer  gate,  there  is  a  room  or  lodge  for  the  porter 
or  portress,  who  opens  and  shuts  the  gate  ;  and  in 
the  gate  there  is  a  little  wicket  by  which  individuals 
can  be  let  in  or  out. 


THE    GREAT  DEXE4L  ZZ 

When  the  band  conducting  Jesus  appeared  in 
front  of  the  palace,  'no  doubt  the  portress  opened 
the  large  gate  to  admit  them  and  then  shut  it  again. 
They  passed  under  the  archway  into  the  court, 
which  they  crossed,  and  then  entered  one  of  the 
apartments  overlooking  the  courtyard.  But  the 
police  and  other  underlings  employed  in  the  arrest, 
their  work  being  now  done,  stayed  outside,  and,  as 
it  was  midnight  and  the  weather  was  cold,  they 
lighted  a  fire  there  under  the  open  sky  and,  gather- 
ing round  it,  began  to  warm  themselves. 

As  has  been  said,  John  went  in  through  the  gate 
with  the  crowd,  but  Peter  was  somehow  shut  out. 
John,  who  seems  to  have  occupied  a  higher  social 
position  than  the  rest  of  the  Twelve,  was  known  to 
the  high  priest,  and,  therefore,  probably  was  ac- 
quainted with  the  palace  and  knew  the  servants  ; 
and,  when  he  noticed  that  Peter  had  been  left  out, 
he  went  to  the  portress  and  got  her  to  let  him  in  by 
the  wicket-gate. 

It  was  a  friendly  act  ;  and  yet,  as  the  event  proved, 
it  was  unintentionally  an  ill  turn  :  John  led  Peter 
into  temptation.  The  best  of  friends  may  do  this 
sometimes  to  one  another  ;  for  the  situation  into 
which  one  man  may  enter  without  peril  may  be  dan- 
gerous to  another.  One  man  may  mingle  freely  in 
company  which  another  cannot  enter  without  terri- 


34    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

ble  risks.  There  are  amusements  in  which  one 
Christian  can  take  part,  though  they  would  ruin 
another  if  he  touched  them.  A  mind  matured  and 
disciplined  may  read  books  which  would  kindle  the 
fire  of  hell  in  a  mind  less  experienced.  There  aie 
always  two  things  that  go  to  the  making  of  a  temp- 
tation :  there  is  the  particular  set  of  circumstances 
to  be  encountered  on  the  one  hand,  and  there  is  the 
peculiar  character  or  history  of  the  person  entering 
into  the  situation  on  the  other.  We  need  to  remem- 
ber this  if  we  are  to  defend  either  ourselves  or  others 
against  temptation. 

II. 

John  no  doubt,  as  soon  as  he  got  Peter  inside  the 
door,  hurried  away  across  the  court  into  the  hall 
where  Jesus  was,  to  witness  the  proceedings. 

Not  so  Peter.  He  was  not  familiar  with  the  place 
as  John  was  ;  and  he  had  the  shyness  of  a  plain  man 
at  the  sight  of  the  inside  of  a  great  house.  Besides, 
he  was  under  fear  of  being  recognized  as  a  follower 
of  Christ  and  apprehended.  Now  also  the  unlucky 
blow  he  had  made  at  Malchus  at  the  gate  of  Geth- 
semane  had  to  be  paid  for,  because  it  greatly  in- 
creased his  chance  of  detection. 

He  remained,  therefore,  just  inside  the  great  door, 
watching  from   the   shadows   of  the   archway  what 


THE    GREA  T  DENLAL  35 

was  going  on  inside,  and,  without  knowing  it,  him- 
self being  watched  by  the  portress  from  her  coigne 
of  vantage.  He  was  ill  at  ease  ;  for  he  did  not 
know  what  to  do.  He  did  not  dare  to  go,  like  John, 
into  the  judgment-hall.  Perhaps  he  half  wished  he 
could  get  out  into  the  street  again.  He  was  in  a 
trap. 

At  last  he  strolled  forward  to  the  group  round  the 
fire  and,  sitting  down  among  them,  commenced  to 
warm  himself.  It  was  a  miscellaneous  group  there 
in  the  glare  of  the  fire,  and  no  notice  was  taken  of 
him.      He  took  his  place  as  if  he  were  one  of  them. 

It  was,  however,  a  dangerous  situation  in  another 
sense  than  he  supposed.  It  was  of  bodily  peril  he 
was  in  terror  ;  he  did  not  anticipate  danger  to  his 
soul  ;  yet  this  was  very  near.  It  is  always  danger- 
ous when  a  follower  of  Christ  is  sitting  among 
Christ's  enemies  without  letting  it  be  known  what 
he  is.  "  Blessed  is  the  man  that  walketh  not  in  the 
counsel  of  the  ungodly,  nor  standeth  in  the  way  of 
sinners,  nor  sitteth  in  the  seat  of  the  scornful."  It 
is  more  than  probable  that  when  Peter  sat  down  the 
air  was  ringing  with  jest  and  laughter  about  Jesus  ; 
but  he  did  not  interi'upt  :  he  kept  silence  and  tried 
to  look  as  like  one  of  the  scorners  as  he  could.  But 
not  to  confess  Christ  is  the  next  step  to  denying 
Him. 


3^    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Temptation,  as  is  its  wont,  came  suddenly  and 
from  the  most  unexpected  quarter.  As  has  been 
said,  when  he  was  skulking  beneath  the  archway, 
his  movements  were  noted  by  the  portress.  They 
were  suspicious,  and  she,  with  a  woman's  clever- 
ness, divined  his  secret.  Accordingly,  when  she 
was  relieved  at  her  post  by  another  maid,  she  not 
only  pointed  him  out  to  this  companion  and  com- 
municated to  her  what  she  thought  about  him,  but, 
in  passing  to  her  room,  she  went  up  to  the  fire 
among  the  soldiers  and,  looking  him  straight  in  the 
face,  said,  with  a  malicious  twinkle  in  ner  eye,  This 
is  one  of  the  Nazarene's  followers. 

Peter  was  taken  completely  by  surprise.  It  was 
as  if  a  mask  had  been  torn  from  his  face.  In  a  mo- 
ment the  instinct  of  terror  seized  him  ;  perhaps, 
too,  the  instinct  of  shame  at  being  thought  a  disci- 
ple of  Him  they  were  mocking.  Indeed,  there  was 
a  further  shame  :  how  could  he  confess  himself  the 
disciple  of  the  Master  whom  he  had  heard  blas- 
phemed without  protest  ?  He  had  denied  his  Mas- 
ter in  act  before  he  denied  Him  in  word  ;  and  the 
preceding  act  made  the  word  also  necessary.  "  1 
do  not  know  what  you  mean,"  he  said,  with  a  surly 
frown  ;  and  away  she  tripped  laughing,  having  done 
her  work  quite  successfully. 

None   pursued   the   subject.     But   Peter  was  un- 


THE    GREAT  DENIAL  37 

easy,  and  took  the  earliest  opportunity  of  escaping 
from  the  fireside.  He  went  away  into  the  archway, 
intending  apparently,  if  he  could,  to  get  out  of  the 
place  altogether.  But  here  the  trap  was  closed  ; 
for  the  other  maid,  whose  attention  had  been  direct- 
ed to  him,  and  who  may  have  been  laughing  from  a 
distance  at  her  neighbour's  sally,  was  standing  at 
the  door  of  her  lodge,  with  two  or  three  men  ;  and, 
pointing  him  out  to  them  as  he  came  forward,  she 
said,  "  That  is  one  of  the  Nazarene's  followers." 

Poor  Peter  !  felled  to  the  ground  a  second  time 
by  the  touch  of  a  woman's  hand.  But  how  often 
has  the  saucy  tongue  and  jeering  laugh  of  a  woman 
made  a  man  ashamed  of  the  highest  and  holiest  ! 
Peter  flung  at  her  an  angry  oath  and,  turning  on 
his  heel,  went  back  again  to  the  fire. 

He  was  now  completely  panic-stricken,  and  lost 
all  self-control.  He  was  boiling  with  conflicting 
emotions  and  could  not  keep  quiet.  Assuming  an 
air  of  defiance  and  indifference,  he  plunged  into  the 
conversation,  speaking  loudly  to  throw  off  suspicion, 
but  really  defeating  his  own  object  ;  for  he  drew 
attention  on  himself,  and  they  scanned  him  the 
more  narrowly  the  more  excited  he  became.  A  rela- 
tive of  Malchus,  whose  ear  he  had  cut  off,  recog- 
nised him.  His  loud  country  voice  and  rough  Gali- 
lean accent  aroused   the  suspicions  of  others.     To 


SS    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

bait  such  a  pretender  was  a  welcome  diversion  in 
the  idle  night,  and  soon  they  were  all  in  full  cry- 
after  the  quarry. 

Peter  was  thoroughly  lost  ;  like  a  bull  in  the  arena 
attacked  and  stabbed  on  every  side,  he  became  blind 
with  rage,  terror  and  shame  ;  and,  pouring  out  de- 
nials, he  added  to  them  oaths  and  curses  hurled  at 
his  adversaries. 

The  latter  element  was,  no  doubt,  the  resurrec- 
tion of  an  old  fisherman's  habit,  long  since  dead  and 
buried.  Peter  was  just  the  man  likely  to  be  a  pro- 
fane swearer  in  his  youth — the  headlong  man  of 
temper,  who  likes  to  say  a  thing  with  as  much  em- 
phasis and  exaggeration  as  possible.  This  is  a  sin 
whose  power  is  generally  broken  instantly  at  conver- 
sion. While  there  are  sins  which  linger  on  for  years 
and  require  to  be  crucified  by  inches,  profane  swear- 
ing often  dies  an  instantaneous  death.  But  even  in 
this  case  it  is  difficult  to  get  quit  of  the  evil  past. 
In  Peter  this  sin  may  have  seemed  to  die  at  his  con- 
version ;  for  years  it  had  been  dead  and  buried  ; 
yet,  when  the  favourable  moment  came,  lo  and  be- 
hold, there  it  was  again  in  vigorous  life.  Old  hab- 
its of  sin  are  hard  to  kill.  We  seem  to  have  killed 
and  buried  them  ;  but  do  you  not  sometimes  hear  a 
knocking  beneath  the  ground  ?  do  you  not  feel  the 
dead  thing  turning  in  its  coffin,  and  see  the  earth 


THE    GREAT  DENIAL  39 

moving  above  its  grave  ?  This  is  the  penalty  of  the 
days  given  to  the  flesh.  Till  his  dying  day  the  man 
v^ho  has  been  a  drunkard  or  a  fornicator,  a  liar  or  a 
swearer,  will  have  to  keep  watch  and  ward  over  the 
graveyard  in  which  he  has  buried  the  past. 

Yet  there  was  a  kind  of  method  in  the  madness  of 
Peter's  profanity.  When  he  wanted  to  prove  that 
he  was  none  of  Christ's,  he  could  not  do  better  than 
take  to  cursing.  They  did  not  credit  his  assertions 
that  he  had  no  connection  with  his  Master,  but  they 
could  not  help  believing  his  sins.  Nobody  belong- 
ing to  Jesus,  they  knew,  would  speak  as  Peter  was 
doing.  It  is  one  of  the  strongest  testimonies  to 
Jesus  still,  that  even  those  who  do  not  believe  in 
Him  expect  cleanness  of  speech  and  of  conduct 
from  His  followers,  and  are  astonished  if  those  who 
bear  His  name  do  things  which  when  done  by  others 
are  matters  of  course. 

IV. 

While  Peter  was  in  the  midst  of  this  outbreak  of 
denial  and  profanity,  suddenly  he  saw  the  eyes  of 
his  tormentors  turned  away  from  him  to  another 
object.*     It  was  Jesus,  whom    His  enemies  had  con- 

*  It  is  to  St.  Luke  we  owe  the  account  here  given  of  Peter's 
awakening  ;  but  he  also  refers  to   the  crowing  of  the  cock,  the 


40    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

demned  in  the  neighbouring  judgment- hall,  and 
whom  they  were  now  leading,  amidst  blows  and  re- 
proaches, across  the  courtyard  to  the  guard- room, 
where  He  was  to  be  kept  for  two  or  three  hours  till 
a  subsequent  stage  of  His  trial  came  on.  *  As  Jesus 
stepped  down  out  of  the  hall  into  the  courtyard,  His 
ear  had  caught  the  accents  of  His  disciple,  and, 
stung  with  unutterable  anguish,  He  turned  quickly 
round  in  the  direction  whence  the  sounds  proceeded. 
At  the  same  moment  Peter  turned,  and  they  looked 
one  another  full  in  the  face.  Jesus  did  not  speak  ; 
for  a  single  syllable,  even  of  surprise,  would  have 
betrayed  His  disciple.  Nor  could  He  linger  ;  for 
the  soldiers  were  hurrying  Him  on.  But  for  a  sin- 
gle instant  their  eyes  met,  and  soul  looked  into  soul. 
Who  shall  say  what  was  in   that  look  of  Christ  ?  * 


only  cause  mentioned  by  the  other  Evangelists,  There  is  no 
difficulty  in  understanding  that  such  a  psychological  crisis  may 
have  been  due  to  two  lines  of  suggestion. 

*  Mrs.  Browning's  sonnets  on  this  subject  must  be  quoted  in 
full: 

"  Two  sayings  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  beat 

Like  pulses  in  the  Church's  brow  and  breast ; 

And  by  them  we  find  rest  in  our  unrest, 

And,  heart-deep  in  salt  tears,  do  yet  entreat 

God's  fellowship,  as  if  on  heavenly  seat. 

The  first  is  Jesus  wept  ;  whereon  is  prest 

Full  many  a  sobbing  face,  that  drops  its  best 

And  sweetest  waters  on  the  record  sweet. 


THE   GREAT  DEI^IAL  \1 

There  may  be  a  world  in  a  look.  It  may  be  more 
eloquent  than  a  whole  volume  of  words.  It  may 
reveal  far  more  than  the  lips  can  ever  utter.     One 


And  one  is  where  the  Christ,  denied  and  scorned, 
Looked  upon  Peter.     Oh  to  render  plain, 
By  help  of  having  loved  a  little  and  mourned, 
That  look  of  sovran  love  and  sovran  pain, 
Which  He,  who  could  not  sin  yet  suffered,  turned 
On  him  who  could  reject  but  not  sustain. 

The  Saviour  looked  on  Peter.     Ay,  no  word, 

No  gesture  of  reproach  ;  the  heavens  serene, 

Though  heavy  with  armed  justice,  did  not  lean 

Their  thunders  that  way  ;  the  forsaken  Lord 

Looked  only  on  the  traitor.     None  record 

What   that  look   was  ;  none  guess  ;  for  those   who  have 

seen 
Wronged  lovers  loving  through  a  death-pang  keen, 
Or  pale-cheeked  martyrs  smiling  to  a  sword, 
Have  missed  Jehovah  at  the  judgment  call. 
And  Peter  from  the  height  of  blasphemy — 
'  I  never  knew  this  man  ' — did  quail  and  fall. 
As  knowing  straight  that  God  ;  and  turned  free, 
And  went  out  speechless  from  the  face  of  all, 
And  filled  the  silence,  weeping  bitterly. 

I  think  that  look  of  Christ  might  seem  to  say  : 
*  Thou,  Peter  !  art  thou  a  common  stone 
Which  I  at  last  must  break  My  heart  upon, 
For  all  God's  charge  to  His  high  angels  may 
Guard  My  feet  better  ?     Did  1  yesterday 
Wash  thy  feet,  My  beloved,  that  they  should  run 
Quick  to  destroy  me  'neath  the  morning  sun  ? 
And  do  thy  kisses,  like  the  rest,  betray  ? 


42    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

soul  may  give  itself  away  to  another  in  a  look.  A 
look  may  beatify  or  plunge  in  the  depths  of  despair. 

The  look  of  Jesus  was  a  talisman  dissolving  the 
spell  in  which  Peter  was  held.  Sin  is  always  a  kind 
of  temporary  madness  ;  and  it  was  manifestly  so  in 
this  case.  Peter  was  so  bewildered  with  terror, 
anger  and  excitement  that  he  did  not  know  what  he 
was  doing.  But  the  look  of  Jesus  brought  him  to 
himself,  and  immediately  he  acted  like  a  man.  He 
made  at  once  for  the  exit  with  impetuous  speed.* 
And  now  nothing  stood  in  his  way  :  he  got  past  the 
maid  and  her  companions  without  trouble.  For, 
indeed,  the  trap  of  temptation  is  only  an  illusion. 
To  a  resolute  man  it  presents  no  obstacles. 

But  further,  the  look  of  Christ  was  a  mirror  in 
which  Peter  saw  himself.  He  saw  what  Christ 
thought  of  him.  The  past  came  rushing  back.  He 
was  the  man  who,  in  a  great  and  never-to-be-forgot- 
ten moment,  had  confessed  Christ  and  earned  His 


The  cock  crows  coldly.     Go,  and  manifest 

A  late  contrition,  but  no  bootless  fear  ! 

For,  when  thy  final  need  is  dreariest, 

Thou  shalt  not  be  denied,  as  I  am  here  ; 

My  voice  to  God  and  angels  shall  attest. 

Because  I  Yi'i:kO\^  this  man,  let  him  be  clear.'" 
*  This  may  be  the  meaning  of  eTTLjiaXuv  ;  but  it  is  much  dis- 
puted.    Other   interpretations    are  :    (i)  =  £7rf/3aA^e    K^aieLv,    he 
began  to  weep  ;  (2)  with  head  covered — in  mourning. 


THE    GREAT  DENIAL  43 

hearty  recognition.  He  was  the  man  who,  a  few 
hours  ago,  had  vowed,  above  all  the  rest,  that  he 
never  would  deny  his  Master.  And  now  he  had  de- 
serted Him  and  wounded  Him  to  the  heart  in  His 
utmost  need.  He  had  placed  himself  among  His 
enemies  as  one  of  themselves  and,  with  oaths  and 
curses,  trodden  His  sacred  name  beneath  his  feet. 
He  had  put  off  the  disciple  and  reverted  to  the  rude- 
ness of  his  godless  youth.  He  was  a  perjured  traitor. 
All  this  was  in  that  look  of  Christ. 

But  there  was  far  more  in  it.  It  was  a  rescuing 
look.  If  any  friend  had  met  Peter  rushing  out  from 
the  scene  of  his  sin,  he  might  well  have  been  terri- 
fied for  what  might  happen.  Where  was  he  rushing 
to  ?  Was  it  to  the  precipice  over  which  Judas 
plunged  not  many  hours  afterwards  ?  Peter  was 
not  very  far  from  that.  Had  it  been  an  angry  look 
he  saw  on  Christ's  face  when  their  eyes  met,  this 
might  have  been  his  fate.  But  there  was  not  a  spark 
of  anger  in  it.  There  was  pain,  no  doubt,  and  there 
was  immeasurable  disappointment.  But  deeper 
than  these — rising  up  from  below  them  and  sub- 
merging them — there  was  the  Saviour's  instinct, 
that  instinct  which  made  Him  reach  out  His  hand 
and  grasp  Peter  when  he  was  sinking  in  the  sea. 
With  this  same  instinct  He  grasped  Him  now. 

In  that  look  of  an  instant  Peter  saw  forgiveness 


44    THE   TRIAL  A  AW  DEATH  OE  JESUS  CHRIST 

and  unutterable  love.  If  he  saw  himself  in  it,  he 
saw  still  more  his  Saviour — such  a  revelation  of  the 
heart  of  Christ  as  he  had  never  yet  known.  He 
saw  now  what  kind  of  Master  he  had  denied  ;  and 
it  broke  his  heart.  It  is  this  that  always  breaks  the 
heart.  It  is  not  our  sin  that  makes  us  weep  ;  it  is 
when  we  see  what  kind  of  Saviour  we  have  sinned 
against.  He  wept  bitterly  ;  not  to  wash  out  his 
sin,  but  because  even  already  he  knew  it  had  been 
washed  out.  The  former  weeping  is  a  pelting 
shower  ;  this  is  the  close,  prolonged  downpour, 
which  penetrates  deep  and  fertilises  the  plants  of 
the  soul  at  their  very  roots. 

Indeed,  this  was  the  real  beginning  of  all  the  good 
St.  Peter  was  to  do  in  the  world.  But  we  will  not 
speak  of  this  now.  Let  our  last  thought  be  of  Him 
who,  in  the  crisis  and  extremity  of  His  own  suffer- 
ing, when  He  heard  His  name  not  only  denied  but 
mingled  with  oaths  and  curses,  yielded  not  one  mo- 
ment to  the  resentment  which  such  an  act  of  treach- 
ery might  have  occasioned,  but,  forgetting  His  own 
sorrows  and  overmastered  with  the  instincts  of  the 
Saviour,  threw  into  a  look  such  a  world  of  kindness 
and  of  love  that,  in  an  instant,  it  lifted  the  falling 
disciple  from  the  gulf  and  set  him  on  the  rock  where 
he  ever  afterwards  stood,  himself  a  rock  in  the  con- 
stancy of  his  faith  and  the  vigor  of  his  testimony. 


CHAPTER    IV. 
THE    CIVIL    TRIAL 

IN  the  chapter  before  last  we  saw  the  Sanhedrim 
pass  a  death  sentence  on  Jesus.  Gladly  would 
they  have  carried  it  out  in  the  Jewish  fashion — by 
stoning.  But,  as  was  then  explained,  it  was  not  in 
their  power  :  their  Roman  masters,  while  conceding 
to  the  native  courts  the  power  of  trying  and  pun- 
ishing minor  offences,  reserved  to  themselves  the 
prerogative  of  life  and  death  ;  and  a  case  in  which 
a  capital  sentence  had  been  passed  in  a  Jewish  court 
had  to  go  before  the  representative  of  Rome  in  the 
country,  who  tried  it  over  again,  and  might  either 
confirm  or  reverse  the  sentence.  Accordingly,  after 
passing  sentence  on  Jesus  themselves,  the  Sanhe- 
drists  had  to  lead  Him  away  to  the  tribunal  of  the 
governor. 

I. 

The  representative  of  Imperial  Rome  in  Palestine 
at  this  time  was  Pontius  Pilate.  The  position  which 
he  held  may  perhaps  be  best  realised  by  thinking  of 


4<5    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

one  of  our  own  subordinate  governors  in  India ; 
with  the  difference,  however,  that  it  was  a  heathen, 
not  a  Christian  power,  that  Pilate  represented,  and 
that  it  was  the  spirit  of  ancient  Rome,  not  that  of 
modern  England,  which  inspired  his  administration. 
Of  this  spirit — the  spirit  of  worldliness,  diplomacy 
and  expediency — he  was  a  typical  exponent  ;  and 
we  shall  see  how  true  to  it  he  proved  on  this  mo- 
mentous day.* 

Pilate  had  occupied  his  position  for  a  good  many 
years  ;  yet  he  neither  liked  his  subjects  nor  they 
him.  The  Jews  were  among  the  most  intractable 
and  difficult  of  all  the  states  which  the  officials  of 
Rome  had  to  manage.  Mindful  of  the  glory  of  their 
ancient  history,  and  still  cherishing  the  hope  of  uni- 
versal empire,  they  were  impatient  of  the  yoke  of 
subordination  ;  they  were  constantly  discovering  in 
the  conduct  of  their  rulers  insults  directed  against 
their  dignity  or  their  religion  ;  they  complained  of 
the  heavy  taxation  and  pestered  their  rulers  with 
petitions.  Pilate  had  not  got  on  at  all  well  with 
them.  Between  him  and  them  there  was  no  sym- 
pathy. He  hated  their  fanaticism.  In  his  quarrels 
with  them,  which  were  frequent,  he  had  freely  shed 


*  On   Pilate    there  is  an  essay  of  extraordinary  subtlety  and 
power  in  Candlish's  Scripture  Characters. 


THE    CIVIL    TRIAL  47 

their  blood.  They  accused  him  of  corruption, 
cruelty,  robbery,  and  maladministration  of  every 
description. 

The  residence  of  the  governor  was  not  in  Jerusa- 
lem, in  which  no  one  accustomed  to  the  pleasures  of 
Rome — its  theatres,  baths,  games,  literature  and 
society — could  desire  to  live,  but  in  the  new  coast 
city  of  Caesarea,  which  in  its  splendour  and  luxury 
was  a  sort  of  small  imitation  of  Rome,  Occasion- 
ally, however,  the  governor  had  to  visit  the  capital 
for  business  reasons  ;  and  usually,  as  on  this  occa- 
sion, he  did  so  at  the  time  of  the  Passover. 

When  there,  he  took  up  his  residence  in  wiiat  had 
formerly  been  the  royal  palace  while  Judaea  still  had 
a  king.  It  had  been  built  by  Herod  the  Great,  who 
had  a  passion  for  architecture  ;  and  it  was  situated 
on  the  hill  to  the  south-west  of  the  one  on  which 
the  temple  stood.  It  was  a  splendid  building,*  rival- 
ling the  temple  itself  in  appearance,  and  so  large  as 
to  be  capable  of  containing  a  small  army.  It  con- 
sisted of  two  colossal  wings,  springing  forward  on 
either  side,  and  a  connecting  building  between.  In 
front  of  the  latter  stretched  a  broad  pavement ;  and 
here,  in  the  open  air,  on  a  raised  platform,  was  the 

*  An  eloquent  account  in  Keim  (vi.,  p.  80,  English  tr.),  who 
gives  the  authorities  :  "in  part  a  tyrant's  stronghold,  and  in 
part  a  fairy  pleasure-house." 


48    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

scene  of  the  trial  ;  because  the  Jewish  authorities 
would  not  enter  the  building,  which  to  them  was 
unclean.  Pilate  had  to  yield  to  their  scruples, 
though  piobably  cursing  them  in  his  heart.  But, 
indeed,  it  was  quite  common  for  the  Romans  to 
hold  courts  of  justice  in  the  open  air.  The  front  of 
the  palace,  all  round,  was  supported  by  massive 
pillars,  forming  broad,  shady  colonnades  ;  and 
round  the  building  there  extended  a  park,  with 
walks,  trees  and  ponds,  where  fountains  cast  their 
sparkling  jets  high  into  the  sunshine  and  flocks  of 
tame  doves  plumed  their  feathers  at  the  water's 
edge. 

Through  the  huge  gateway,  then,  of  this  palatial 
residence,  the  Jewish  authorities,  with  their  Prisoner 
in  their  midst,  came  pouring  in  the  early  morning. 
Pilate  came  out  to  receive  them  and  seated  himself 
on  his  chaii  of  state,  with  his  secretaries  beside  him, 
and  behind  him,  no  doubt,  numbers  of  bronzed 
Roman  soldiers  with  their  stolid  looks  and  upright 
spears.  The  Accused  would  have  to  ascend  the 
platform,  too  ;  and  over  against  Him  stood  His 
accusers,  with  Caiaphas  at  their  head. 

What  a  spectacle  was  that  !  The  heads  of  the 
Jewish  nation  leading  their  own  Messiah  in  chains 
to  deliver  Him  up  to  a  Gentile  governor,  with  the 
petition  that  He  should  be  put  to  death  !     Shades 


7^HE   CIVIL    TRIAL  49 

of  the  heroes  and  the  prophets,  who  loved  this  na- 
tion and  boasted  of  it  and  foretold  its  glorious  fate, 
the  hour  of  destiny  has  come,  and  this  is  the  result  ! 
It  was  an  act  of  national  suicide.  But  was  it  not 
more  ?  Was  it  not  the  frustration  of  the  purpose 
and  the  promise  of  God  ?  So  it  certainly  appeared 
to  be.  Yet  He  is  not  mocked.  Even  through  hu- 
man sin  His  purpose  holds  on  its  way.  The  Jews 
brought  the  Son  of  God  to  Pilate's  judgment-seat, 
that  both  Jew  and  Gentile  might  unite  in  condemn- 
ing Him  ;  for  it  was  part  of  the  work  of  the  Re- 
deemer to  expose  human  sin,  and  here  was  to  be 
exhibited  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  wickedness,  as  the 
hand  of  humanity  was  lifted  up  against  its  Maker. 
And  yet  that  death  was  to  be  the  life  of  humanity  ; 
and  Jesus,  standing  between  Jew  and  Gentile,  was 
to  unite  them  in  the  fellowship  of  a  common  salva- 
tion, "  Oh  the  depth  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowl- 
edge of  God  !  How  unsearchable  are  His  judg- 
ments, and  His  ways  past  finding  out  !" 


II. 


Pilate  at  once  demanded  what  was  the  accusation 
which  they  brought  against  the  Prisoner. 

The  reply  was  a  characteristic  one,  "  If  He  were 
not  a  malefactor,  we  would  not  have  delivered  Him 


50    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATli   OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Up  unto  thee."  This  was  as  broad  a  hint  as  they 
could  give  that  they  desired  the  governor  to  waive 
his  right  to  re-try  the  case,  accepting  their  trial  of  it 
as  sufficient,  and  content  himself  with  the  other  half 
of  his  prerogative — the  passing  and  the  execution  of 
the  sentence.  Sometimes  provincial  governors  did 
so,  either  through  indolence  or  out  of  compliment 
to  the  native  authorities  ;  and  especially  in  a  relig- 
ious cause,  which  a  foreigner  could  not  be  expected 
to  understand,  such  a  compliment  might  seem  a 
boon  which  it  was  not  unreasonable  to  ask. 

But  Pilate  was  not  in  a  yielding  mood,  and  re- 
torted, "  Take  ye  Him  and  judge  Him  according  to 
your  law."  This  was  as  much  as  to  say  :  If  I  am 
not  to  hear  the  case,  then  I  will  neither  pass  the 
sentence  nor  inflict  the  punishment  ;  if  yoa  insist 
on  this  being  a  case  for  yourselves  as  ecclesiastics, 
then  keep  it  to  yourselves  ;  but,  if  you  do,  you  must 
be  content  with  such  a  punishment  as  the  law  per- 
mits you  to  inflict. 

To  them  this  was  gall  and  wormwood,  because  it 
was  for  the  life  of  Christ  they  were  thirsting,  and 
they  well  knew  that  imprisonment  or  beating  with 
rods  was  as  far  as  they  could  go.  The  cold,  keen 
Roman,  as  proud  as  themselves,  was  making  them 
feel  the  pressure  of  Rome's  foot  on  their  neck,  and 
he  enjoyed  a  malicious  pleasure  in  extorting  from 


THE    CIVIL    TRIAL  51 

them  the  complaint,  "It  is  not  lawful  for  us  to  put 
any  man  to  death." 

Forced  against  their  will  and  their  expectation  to 
formulate  a  charge,  they  began  to  pour  forth  many 
vehement  accusations  ;  out  of  which  at  length  three 
emerged  with  some  distinctness — first,  that  He  was 
perv-erting  the  nation  -,  second,  that  He  forbade  to 
pay  the  imperial  tribute  ;  and  third,  that  He  set 
Himself  up  as  a  king. 

It  will  be  observed  that  they  never  mentioned  the 
charge  on  which  they  had  condemned  Him  them- 
selves. It  was  for  none  of  these  three  things  that 
they  had  condemned  Him,  but  for  blasphemy.  They 
knew  too  well,  however,  that  if  they  advanced  such 
a  charge  in  this  place,  the  likelihood  was  that  it 
would  be  sneered  out  of  court.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered how  a  Roman  governor,  mentioned  in  the  life 
of  St.  Paul,  dealt  with  such  a  charge  :  "  Gallio  said 
unto  the  Jews,  If  it  were  a  matter  of  wrong  or  wicked 
lewdness,  O  ye  Jews,  reason  would  that  I  should 
bear  with  3'ou  ;  but,  if  it  be  a  question  of  words  and 
names,  and  of  your  law,  look  ye  to  it  ;  for  I  will  be 
no  judge  of  such  matters.  And  he  drave  them  from 
the  judgment-seat."  *  And,  although  of  course 
Pilate  could  not  have  dared  to  exhibit  the  same  cyn- 

*  Acts  xviii,  14-16. 


S2    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

ical  disdain  for  what  he  would  have  called  Jewish 
superstition,  3^et  they  knew  that  it  was  in  his  heart. 

But  their  inability  to  bring  forward  the  real  charge 
put  them  in  a  false  position,  the  dangers  of  which 
they  did  not  escape.  They  had  to  extemporise 
crimes,  and  they  were  not  scrupulous  about  it. 

Their  first  charge — that  Jesus  was  perverting  the 
nation* — was  vague.  But  what  are  we  to  say  of  the 
second — that  He  forbade  to  pay  the  imperial  tribute  ? 
When  we  remember  His  reply  that  very  week  to  the 
question  whether  or  not  it  was  lawful  to  pay  tribute 
— "  Render  unto  Caesar  the  things  which  are  Caesar's, 
and  unto  God  the  things  which  are  God's" — it  looks 
very  like  a  deliberate  falsehood. f  There  was  more 
colour  in  their  third  statement — that  He  said  He 
was  Christ  a  King — for  He  had  at  their  tribunal  sol- 
emnly avowed  Himself  to  be  the  Christ.  Yet,  in 
this  case,  also,  they  were  well  aware  that  to  the  ear 
of  a  Roman  the  claim  that  He  was  a  king  would 
convey  a  different  meaning  from  that  conveyed  to 
their  ears  by  the  claim  to  be  the  Christ.  Indeed, 
at  bottom  their  objection  to  Him  was  just  that  He 
did  not  sufficiently  claim  to  be  a  king  in  the  Roman 
sense.     They  were  eagerly  looking  for  a  king,   of 

*  fSvof,  not  'kaoq :  they  were  speaking  to  a  heathen, 
f  Keim  calls  it  "a  very  flagrant  lie." 


THE    CIVIL    TRIAL  53 

splendour  and  military  renown,  to  break  the  Roman 
yoke  and  make  Jerusalem  the  capital  of  a  worldwide 
empire  ;  and  it  was  because  the  spirit  and  aims  of 
Jesus  were  alien  to  such  ambitions  that  they  despised 
and  hated  Him. 

Pilate  understood  perfectly  well  with  whom  he 
was  dealing.  He  could  only  be  amused  with  their 
zeal  for  the  payment  of  the  Roman  tribute.  One 
of  the  Evangelists  says,  "  He  knew  that  for  envy 
they  had  delivered  Him."  How  far  he  was  already 
acquainted  with  the  career  of  Jesus  we  cannot  tell. 
He  had  been  governor  all  the  time  of  the  movement 
inaugurated  by  the  Baptist  and  continued  by  Christ, 
and  he  can  hardly  have  remained  in  entire  ignorance 
of  it.  The  dream  of  his  w^ife,  which  we  shall  come 
to  soon,  seems  to  prove  that  Jesus  had  already  been 
a  theme  of  conversation  in  the  palace  ;  and  perhaps 
the  tedium  of  a  visit  to  Jerusalem  may  have  been 
relieved  for  the  governor  and  his  wife  by  the  story 
of  the  young  Enthusiast  who  was  bearding  the 
fanatic  priests.  Pilate  displays,  all  through,  a  real 
interest  in  Jesus  and  a  genuine  respect.  This  was 
no  doubt  chiefly  due  to  what  he  himself  saw  of  His 
bearing  at  his  tribunal  ;  but  it  may  also  have  been 
partly  due  to  what  he  had  already  heard  about  Him. 
.^Call  events  there  is  no  indication  that  he  took  the 
'larojes  against  Jesus  seriously.     The  two  first   he 


54    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

seems  never  to  have  noticed  ;  but  the  third — that 
He  was  setting  Himself  up  as  a  king,  who  might  be 
a  rival  to  the  emperor — was  not  such  as  he  could 
altogether  pass  by. 

III. 

Pilate,  having  heard  the  accusations,  took  Jesus 
inside  the  palace  to  investigate  them.  This  he  did, 
no  doubt,  for  the  purpose  of  getting  rid  of  the  im- 
portunity of  His  accusers,  which  was  extreme.  And 
Jesus  made  no  scruple,  as  they  had  done,  about  en- 
tering the  palace.  Shall  we  say  that  the  Jews  had 
rejected  Him,  and  He  was  turning  to  the  Gentiles 
— that  the  wall  of  partition  had  now  fallen,  and  that 
He  was  trampling  over  its  ruins  ? 

In  the  silence,  then,  of  this  interior  hall  He  and 
Pilate  stood  face  to  face — He  in  the  prisoner's  lonely 
place,  Pilate  in  the  place  of  power.  Yet  how 
strangely,  as  we  now  look  back  at  the  scene,  are  the 
places  reversed  !  It  is  Pi.late  who  is  going  to  be 
tried — Pilate  and  Rome,  which  he  represented.  All 
that  morning  Pilate  was  being  judged  and  exposed  ; 
and  ever  since  he  has  stood  in  the  pillory  of  history 
with  the  centuries  gazing  at  him.*     In  the  old  pic- 

*  "  Socrates,  quum  omnium  sapientissime  sanciissimeque  vixis- 
set,  ita  in  judicio  capitis  pro  se  dixit,  ut  non  supplex  aut  reus, 
sed  magisteraut  dominus  videretur  judicum." — Cicero. 


THE    CIVIL    TRIAL  55 

tures  of  the  Child  Christ  by  the  great  masters  a  halo 
proceeds  from  the  Babe  that  lights  up  the  surround- 
ing figures,  sometimes  with  dazzling  effect.  And  it 
is  true  that  on  all  who  approached  Christ,  when  He 
was  in  the  world,  there  fell  a  light  in  which  both 
the  good  and  the  evil  in  them  were  revealed.  It 
was  a  search  light,  that  penetrated  into  every  corner 
and  exposed  every  wrinkle.  Men  were  judged  as 
they  came  near  Him.  Is  it  not  so  still  ?  We  never 
show  so  entirely  what  is  in  us  as  by  the  way  in  which 
we  are  affected  by  Christ.  We  are  judging  our- 
selves and  passing  sentence  on  ourselves  for  eternity 
by  the  way  in  which  we  deal  with  Him. 

Pilate  asked  Him,  "  Art  Thou  the  King  of  the 
Jews  ?' '  referring  to  the  third  charge  brought  against 
Him.  The  reply  of  Jesus  was  cautious  ;  it  was  an- 
other question  :  "  Sayest  thou  this  of  thyself,  or  did 
others  tell  it  thee  of  Me  ?"  He  desired  to  learn  in 
what  sense  the  question  was  asked — whether  from 
the  standpoint  of  a  Roman  or  from  that  of  the  Jews  ; 
because  of  course  His  answer  would  be  different 
according  as  He  was  asked  whether  He  was  a  king 
as  a  Roman  Avould  understand  the  word  or  accord- 
ing as  it  was  understood  by  the  Jews. 

But  this  answer  nettled  Pilate,  perhaps  because  it 
assumed  that  he  might  have  more  interest  in  the 
case  than  he  cared  to  confess  ;  and   he  said  angrily, 


56    THE    TRIAL  A. YD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

"Am  I  a  Jew?  Thine  own  nation  and  the  chief 
priests  have  delivered  Thee  unto  me."  If  he  in- 
tended this  to  sting,  the  blow  did  not  fail  of  its 
mark.  Ah,  tingling  shame  and  poignant  pain  ! 
His  own  nation — His  own  beloved  nation,  to  which 
He  had  devoted  His  life — had  given  Him  up  to  the 
Gentile.  He  felt  a  shame  for  it  before  the  foreigner 
such  as  a  slave  on  the  block  may  feel  before  her 
purchaser-  for  the  father  and  the  family  that  have 
sold  her  into  disgrace. 

Jesus  at  once  proceeded,  however,  to  answer 
Pilate's  question  on  both  sides,  both  on  the  Roman 
political  and  then  on  the  Jewish  religious  side. 

First,  He  answered  negatively,  "  My  kingdom 
is  not  of  this  world  !"  He  was  no  rival  of  the  Roman 
emperor.  If  He  had  been,  the  first  thing  He  must 
have  done  would  have  been  to  assemble  soldiers 
about  Him  for  the  purpose  of  freeing  the  country 
from  the  Roman  occupation,  and  the  very  first  duty 
of  these  soldiers  would  have  been  to  defend  the  per- 
son of  their  king  ;  but  it  could  be  proved  that  at  His 
arrest  there  had  been  no  fighting  on  His  behalf,  and 
that  He  had  ordered  the  one  follower  who  had  drawn 
a  sword  to  sheathe  it  again.  It  was  not  a  kingdom 
of  force  and  arms  and  worldly  glory  He  had  in  view. 

Yet,  even  in  making  this  denial,  Jesus  had  used 
the  words,  "  My  kingdom."     And  Pilate   broke  in, 


THE    CIVIL    TRIAL  57 

*'  Art  Thou  a  king  then  ?"  "  Yes,"  replied  Jesus  ;  / 
**  to  this  end  was  I  born,  and  for  this  cause  came  I 
into  the  world,  that  I  should  bear  witness  unto  the 
truth."  This  was  His  kingdom — the  realm  of 
Truth.  It  differs  widely  from  that  of  Caesar. 
Caesar's  empire  is  over  the  bodies  of  men  ;  this  is 
over  their  hearts.  The  strength  of  Caesar's  empire 
is  in  soldiers,  arms,  citadels  and  navies  ;  the  strength 
of  this  kingdom  is  in  principles,  sentiments,  ideas. 
The  benefit  secured  by  Caesar  to  the  citizens  is  ex- 
ternal security  for  their  persons  and  properties  ;  the 
blessings  of  .Christ's  kingdom  are  peace  of  con- 
science and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  empire  of 
Caesar,  vast  as  it  was,  yet  was  circumscribed  ;  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  is  without  limits,  and  is  destined 
to  be  established  in  every  land.  Caesar's  empire, 
like  every  other  earthly  kingdom,  had  its  day  and 
passed  out  of  existence  ;  but  the  kingdom  of  Truth 
shall  last  for  evermore. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  there  was  something 
Western  rather  than  Oriental  in  this  sublime  saying 
of  Christ.  What  a  noble-minded  Jew  longed  for 
above  all  things  was  righteousness  ;  but  what  a 
noble-minded  Gentile  aspired  after  was  truth.  There 
were  some  spirits,  in  that  age,  even  among  the 
heathen,  in  whom  the  mention  of  a  kingdom  of 
truth   or  wisdom   would   have   struck    a   responsive 


58    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

chord.  Jesus  was  feeling  to  see  whether  there  was 
in  this  man's  soul  any  such  longing. 

He  approached  still  nearer  him  when  He  added 
the  searching  remark,  "  Every  one  that  is  of  the 
truth  heareth  My  voice  ;"  for  it  was  a  hint  that,  if 
he  loved  the  truth,  he  must  believe  in  Him.  Jesus 
.preached  to  His  judge.  Just  as  the  prisoner  Paul 
made  Felix  the  judge  tremble,  and  Agrippa  the 
judge  cry  out,  "  Almost  thou  persuadest  me  to  be 
a  Christian,"  so  Jesus,  with  the  instinct  of  the 
preacher  and  the  Saviour,  was  feeling  for  Pilate's 
conscience.  He  who  fishes  for  the  souls  of  men 
must  use  many  angles  ;  and  on  this  occasion  Jesus 
selected  a  rare  one. 

There  will  always  be  some  who,  though  common 
appeals  do  not  touch  them,  yet  respond  to  this  deli- 
cate appeal.  Is  truth  a  magic  word  to  you  .?  do  you 
thirst  for  wisdom  ?  There  are  those  to  whom  the 
prizes  which  the  majority  strive  for  are  as  dross. 
The  race  for  wealth,  the  pride  of  life,  the  distinc- 
tions of  society — you  laugh  at  them  and  pity  them. 
But  a  golden  page  of  a  favourite  poet,  a  thought 
newly  minted  in  the  glowing  heat  of  a  true  thinker's 
mind,  a  pregnant  word  that  sets  your  fancy  ranging 
through  eternity,  a  luminous  doctrine  that  rises  on 
the  intellectual  horizon  like  a  star, — these  are  your 
wealth.     You  feel  keenly  the  darkness  of  the  world, 


THE    CIVIL    TRIAL  59 


and  are  perplexed  by  a  hundred  problems.  Child 
and  lover  of  wisdom,  do  you  know  the  King  of 
Truth  ?  This  is  He  who  can  satisfy  your  craving 
for  light  and  lead  you  out  of  the  maze  of  specula- 
tion and  error. 

But  is  it  true,  as  He  says  here,  that  everyone  who 
is  of  the  truth  heareth  His  voice  ?  Is  not  the  world 
at  present  full  of  men  and  women  who  are  in  search 
of  truth,  yet  pass  Christ  by  ?  It  is  a  very  strong 
word  He  uses  ;  it  is,  "  every  one  who  has  been  born 
of  the  truth."  Have  you  actually  clambered  on 
Truth's  knees,  and  clung  to  her  neck,  and  fed  at 
her  breast  ?  There  are  many  who  seek  truth  earn- 
estly with  the  intellect,  but  do  not  desire  it  to  rule 
their  conduct  or  purify  their  heart.  But  only  those 
who  seek  truth  with  their  whole  being  are  her  true 
children  ;  and  to  these  the  voice  of  Christ,  when  it 
is  discerned,  is  like  the  sunrise  to  the  statue  of  Mem- 
non  or  as  the  call  of  spring  to  the  responsive  earth. 

Alas  !  Pilate  was  no  such  man.  He  was  incapa- 
ble of  spiritual  aspiration  ;  he  was  of  the  earth 
earthy  ;  he  sought  for  nothing  which  the  eye  cannot 
see  or  the  hand  handle.  To  him  a  kingdom  of  truth 
and  a  king  of  truth  were  objects  of  fairyland  or 
castles  in  the  air.  "What  is  truth?"  he  asked; 
but,  as  he  asked,  he  turned  on  his  heel,  and  did  not 
wait  for  an  answer.      He  asked  only  as  a  libertine 


6o    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE  JESUS  CHRIST 

might  ask,   What   is  virtue  ?  or  a   tyrant,    What   is 
freedom  ? 

But  he  was  clearly  convinced  that  Jesus  was  inno- 
cent. He  judged  Him  to  be  an  amiable  enthusiast, 
from  whom  Rome  had  nothing  to  fear.  So  he  went 
out  and  pronounced  His  acquittal  :  *'  I  find  in  Him 
no  fault  at  all." 


CHAPTER   V. 

JESUS  AND  HEROD 

PILATE  had  tried  Jesus  and  found  Him  inno- 
cent ;  and  so  he  frankly  told  the  members  of 
the  Sanhedrim,  thereby  reversing  their  sentence. 
What  ought  to  have  followed  ?  Of  course  Jesus 
ought  to  have  been  released  and,  if  necessary,  pro- 
tected from  the  feeling  of  the  Jews. 

Why  was  this  not  what  happened  ?  An  incident 
in  the  life  of  Pilate,  narrated  by  a  secular  historian, 
may  best  explain.  Some  years  before  the  trial  of 
Jesus,  Pilate,  newly  settled  in  the  position  of  gov- 
ernor of  Judaea,  resolved  to  remove  the  headquarters 
of  the  Roman  army  from  Caesarea  to  Jerusalem  ; 
and  the  soldiers  entered  the  Holy  City  with  their 
standards,  each  of  which  bore  the  image  of  the  em- 
peror. To  the  Jewish  mind  these  images  were  idol- 
atrous, and  their  presence  in  Jerusalem  was  looked 
upon  as  a  gross  insult  and  desecration.  The  fore- 
most men  of  the  city  poured  down  to  Caesarea, 
where  Pilate  was  staying,  and  besought  him  to  re- 
move them.     He  refused,  and  for  five  days  the  dis- 


62    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 


cussion  went  on.  At  length  he  was  so  irritated  that 
he  ordered  them  to  be  surrounded  by  soldiers,  and 
threatened  to  have  them  put  to  death  unless  they 
became  silent  and  dispersed.  They,  however,  in 
no  way  dismayed,  threw  themselves  on  the  ground 
and  laid  bare  their  necks,  crying  that  they  would 
rather  die  than  have  their  city  defiled.  And  the 
upshot  was  that  Pilate  had  to  yield,  and  the  army 
was  withdrawn  from  Jerusalem.* 

Such  was  the  governor,  and  such  were  the  people 
with  whom  he  had  to  deal.  He  was  no  match  for 
them,  when  their  hearts  were  set  on  anything  and 
their  religious  prejudices  roused.  In  the  present 
case  they  did  with  him  exactly  as  they  had  done  on 
that  early  occasion.  He  declared  Jesus  innocent, 
and  thereupon  the  trial  ought  to  have  been  at  an 
end.  But  they  raised  an  angry  clamour — "  they 
were  the  more  fierce,"  says  St.  Luke — and  began  to 
pour  out  new  accusations  against  the  Prisoner. 

Pilate  had  not  nerve  enough  to  resist.  He  weakly 
turned  to  Jesus  Himself,  asking,  "  Hearest  Thou 
not  what  these  witness  against  Thee  ?"  But  Jesus 
"  answered  to  him  never  a  word."  He  would  not, 
by  a  single  syllable,  give  sanction  to  any  prolonga- 
tion of  the  proceedings  :   '*  insomuch  that   the  gov- 

*  Josephus,  "  Ant.,"  XVIII.,  3,  i. 


/ESUS  AND   HEROD  63 

ernor  marvelled  greatly."  Flusteied  and  irresolute 
himself,  he  could  not  comprehend  this  majestic  com- 
posure. The  stake  of  Jesus  in  the  proceedings  was 
nothing  less  than  His  life  ;  yet  He  was  the  only 
calm  person  in  the  whole  assemblage. 

Suddenly,  however,  amidst  the  confusion  a  way 
of  escape  from  his  embarrassing  situation  seemed 
to  open  to  Pilate.  They  were  crying,  "  He  stirreth 
up  the  people,  teaching  throughout  all  Jewry,  be- 
ginning from  Galilee  to  this  place."  The  mention 
of  Galilee  was  intended  to  excite  prejudice  against 
Jesus,  because  Galilee  was  noted  as  a  hotbed  of  in- 
surrection. But  it  set  agoing  a  different  train  of 
thought  in  the  mind  of  Pilate,  who  asked  anxiously 
if  He  was  a  Galilean.  It  had  flashed  upon  him  that 
Herod,  the  ruler  of  Galilee,  was  in  the  city  at  the 
time,  having  come  for  the  Passover  celebration  ; 
and,  as  it  was  not  an  unusual  procedure  in  Roman 
law  to  transfer  a  prisoner  from  the  territory  where 
he  had  been  arrested  to  his  place  of  origin  or  of 
domicile,  it  seemed  to  him  a  happy  inspiration  to 
send  Jesus  to  be  tried  by  the  ruler  of  the  province 
to  which  He  belonged,  and  so  get  rid  altogether  of 
the  case.*     He  acted  at  once  on  this  idea  ;  and,  un- 

*  It  may  be  questioned  whether  it  was  for  trial  he  sent  Jesus 
to  Herod  or  only  for  advice,  rs  Festus  caused  St.  Paul's  case 
to  be  heard  by  Agrippa. 


64    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEA  TH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

der  the  escort  of  Pilate's  soldiers,  Jesus  and  His  ac- 
cusers were  sent  away  to  the  ancient  palace  of  the 
Maccabees,  in  which  Herod  used  to  reside  on  his 
visits  to  the  Holy  City. 

Thus  was  Jesus,  on  this  day  of  shame,  tossed,  like 
a  ball,  from  hand  to  hand — from  Annas  to  Caiaphas, 
from  Caiaphas  to  Pilate,  from  Pilate  to  Herod,  with 
more  to  follow  ;  and  these  weary  marches*  in  chains 
and  in  the  custody  of  the  officers  of  justice,  with 
His  persecutors  about  Him,  are  not  to  be  forgotten 
in  the  catalogue  of  His  sufferings. 

I. 

There  are  several  Herods  mentioned  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  it  must  be  made  clear  which  of 
them  this  was. 

The  first  of  them  was  he  who  slew  the  babes  of 
Bethlehem,  when  the  infant  Saviour  was  carried 
away  to  Egypt.  He  was  called  Herod  the  Great, 
and  reigned  over  the  whole  country,  though  only 
by  permission  of  the  Romans.  At  his  death  his 
dominions  were  divided  among  his  sons  by  the  for- 
eigner, who  thus  more  effectually  brought  the  coun- 
try under  control  ;  for  the  smaller  the  size  of  sub- 

*  Called  "  die  Gange  des  Dulders,"  in  German  devotional 
literature. 


JESUS  AND   HEROD  65 

ject  states  the  more  absolute  is  the  power  of  the 
suzerain.  Judaea  was  given  to  Archelaus  ;  but  it 
was  soon  taken  from  him,  to  be  administered  by  the 
Romans  themselves  through  their  procurators,  of 
whom  Pilate  was  one.  Galilee  and  Persea  were 
given  to  another  son,  Antipas  ;  and  a  region  more 
to  the  north  to  a  third,  Philip.  Our  present  Herod 
is  Antipas. 

He  was  a  man  of  some  ability  and  at  the  outset 
of  his  career  gave  promise  of  ruling  well.  Like  his 
father,  he  had  a  passion  for  architecture,  and  among 
his  achievements  in  this  line  was  the  building  of  the 
city  of  Tiberias,  well  known  in  connection  with 
modern  missions.  But  he  took  a  step  which  proved 
fatal  when  he  entered  into  an  intrigue  with  Hero- 
dias,  the  wife  of  his  own  brother  Philip,  She  left 
her  husband  to  come  to  him,  and  he  sent  away  his 
own  wife,  the  daughter  of  Aretas,  the  king  of  Arabia 
Petraea.  Herodias  was  a  much  stronger  character 
than  he  ;  and  she  remained  at  his  side  through  life 
as  his  evil  genius.  Better  aspirations  were  not, 
however,  wholly  extinguished  in  him  even  by  this 
fall.  When  the  Baptist  began  to  fire  the  country, 
he  took  an  interest  in  his  preaching,  and  invited 
him  to  the  palace,  where  he  heard  him  gladly,  till 
John  said,  "It  is  not  lawful  for  thee  to  have  her." 
For  this  the  great  preacher  was  cast   into   prison  ; 


66    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

but  even  then  Herod  frequently  sent  for  him.  Mani- 
festly he  was  under  religious  impression.  He  ad- 
mired the  character  and  the  teaching  of  John.  It 
is  said  "  he  did  many  things."  Only  he  could  not 
and  would  not  do  the  one  thing  needful  :  Herodias 
still  retained  her  place.  Naturally  she  feared  and 
hated  the  man  of  God,  who  was  seeking  to  remove 
her  ;  and  she  plotted  against  him  with  implacable 
malignity.  She  was  only  too  successful,  making 
use  of  her  own  daughter — not  Antipas',  but  her  first 
husband's — for  her  purpose.  On  the  king's  birth- 
day Salome  danced  before  Herod  and  so  intoxicated 
him  with  her  skill  and  beauty,  that,  heated  and  over- 
come, he  promised — the  promise  showing  the  man 
— to  give  her  whatever  she  might  ask,  even  to  the 
half  of  his  kingdom  ;  and  when  the  young  witch, 
well  drilled  by  her  mother  in  the  craft  of  hell,  asked 
the  head  of  the  man  of  God,  she  was  not  refused. 

This  awful  crime  filled  his  subjects  with  horror, 
and  when,  soon  afterwards.  King  Aretas,  the  father 
of  his  discarded  wife,  invaded  the  country,  to  re- 
venge his  daughter's  wrong,  and  inflicted  on  him 
an  ignominious  defeat,  this  reverse  was  popularly 
regarded  as  a  divine  punishment  for  what  he  had 
done.  His  own  mind  was  haunted  by  the  spectres 
of  remorse,  as  we  learn  from  the  fact  that,  when  he 
heard  of  the  preaching  of  Jesus,  his  first   thought 


JESUS  A. YD  HEROD  67 

was  that  this  was  John  the  Baptist  risen  from  the 
dead.  Indeed,  from  this  point  he  seems  to  have 
rapidly  deteriorated.  Feeling  the  aversion  of  the 
minds  of  his  subjects,  he  turned  more  and  more  to 
foreign  customs.  His  court  became  distinguished 
for  Roman  imitations  and  affectations.  The  pur- 
veyors of  pleasure,  who  in  that  age  hawked  their 
wares  from  one  petty  court  to  another — singers, 
dancers,  jugglers  and  the  like— were  welcome  at 
Tiberias.  The  fibre  of  his  character  was  more  and 
more  relaxed,  till  it  became  a  mere  mass  of  pulp, 
ready  to  receive  every  impression  but  able  to  retain 
none.  His  annual  visits  to  Jerusalem  even,  at  Pass- 
over time,  were  inspired  less  by  devotion  than  by 
the  hope  of  amusement.  In  so  large  a  concourse 
there  would  at  any  rate  be  acquaintances  to  see  and 
news  to  hear  ;  and  who  could  tell  what  excitement 
might  turn  up  ? 

II. 

His  reception  of  Jesus  was  thoroughly  character- 
istic. Had  he  had  the  conscience  even  of  a  bad 
man,  he  might  have  been  abashed  to  see  the  Bap- 
tist's Friend.  Once  he  had  been  moved  with  terror 
at  the  mere  rumour  of  Jesus  ;  but  that  was  all  past  ; 
these  emotions  had  been  wiped  out  by  newer  ones 
and  forgotten.     He  was  "exceeding  glad"   to  see 


68    THE   TRIAL  A^D  DEATH  OE  JESUS  CHRIST 

Him.  First,  it  was  an  excitement  ;  and  this  was 
something  for  such  a  man.  Then,  it  was  a  compli- 
ment from  the  Roman  ;  indeed,  we  are  told  that 
Pilate  and  he  had  aforetime  been  at  enmity,  but  by 
this  attention  were  made  friends  again.  His  de- 
light, however,  arose  chiefly  from  the  hope  that  he 
might  see  Jesus  working  a  miracle.  For  two  or 
three  years  his  own  dominions  had  been  ringing 
with  the  fame  of  the  Miracle  worker,  but  Herod  had 
never  seen  Him.  Now  w^as  his  chance  ;  and  no 
doubt  entered  his  mind  that  Jesus  would  gratify  his 
curiosity,  or  could  count  it  anything  but  an  honour 
to  get  the  opportunity  of  displaying  His  skill. 

Such  was  Herod's  estimate  of  Christ.  He  put 
Him  on  the  level  of  a  new  dancer  or  singer  ;  he 
looked  on  His  miracles  as  a  species  of  conjuring  or 
magic  ;  and  he  expected  from  Him  the  same  enter- 
tainment as  he  might  have  obtained  from  any  wan- 
dering professor  of  magical  arts. 

At  once  he  addressed  Him  in  the  friendliest  man- 
ner and  questioned  Him  in  many  words.  Appar- 
ently he  quite  forgot  the  purpose  for  which  Pilate 
had  sent  Him.  He  did  not  even  wait  for  any  re- 
plies, but  went  rambling  on.  He  had  thought  much 
about  religion,  and  he  wished  Jesus  to  know  it.  He 
had  theories  to  ventilate,  puzzles  to  propound,  re- 
marks to  make.     A  man  who  has  no  religion  may 


JESUS  AND   HEROD  69 

yet  have  a  great  deal  to  say  about  religion  ;  and 
there  are  people  who  like  far  better  to  hear  them- 
selves talking  than  to  listen  to  any  speaker,  however 
wise.  No  mouth  is  more  voluble  than  that  of  a 
characterless  man  of  feeling. 


III. 


Herod  at  last  exhausted  himself,  and  then  he 
waited  for  Christ  to  speak.  But  Jesus  uttered  not 
a  word.  The  silence  lasted  till  the  pause  grew  awk- 
ward and  painful,  and  till  Herod  grew  red  and  an- 
gry ;  but  Jesus  would  not  break  it  with  a  single 
syllable. 

For  one  thing,  the  entire  proceedings  were  irrele- 
vant. Jesus  had  been  sent  to  Herod  to  be  tried  ; 
but  this  had  never  been  touched  upon.  Had  Jesus, 
indeed,  desired  to  deliver  Himself  at  all  hazards, 
this  was  a  rare  opportunity  ;  because,  if  He  had 
yielded  to  Herod's  wishes  and  wrought  a  miracle 
for  his  gratification,  no  doubt  He  would  have  been 
acquitted  and  sent  back  loaded  with  gifts.  But  we 
cannot  believe  that  such  an  expedient  was  even  a 
temptation  to  Him.  Never  had  He  wrought  a  mir- 
acle for  His  own  behoof,  and  it  is  inconceivable  that 
He  should  have  stooped  to  offer  any  justification  of 
the  estimate  of  Himself  which  this  man  had  formed. 


70    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Jesus  was  Herod's  subject  ;  but  it  was  impossible 
for  Him  to  look  upon  him  with  respect.  How  could 
He  help  feeling  disdain  for  one  who  thought  of 
Himself  so  basely  and  treated  this  great  crisis  so 
frivolously  ?  To  one  who  knew  Herod's  history, 
how  loathsome  must  it  have  been  to  hear  religious 
talk  from  his  lips  !  There  was  no  manliness  or  earn- 
estness in  the  man.  Religion  was  a  mere  diversion 
to  him. 

To  such  Christ  will  always  be  silent.  Herod  is 
the  representative  of  those  for  whom  there  is  no 
seriousness  in  life,  but  who  live  only  for  pleasure. 
There  are  many  such.  Not  only  has  religion,  in 
any  high  and  serious  sense,  no  attraction  for  them, 
but  they  dislike  everything  like  deep  thought  or 
earnest  vv^ork  in  any  sphere.  As  soon  as  they  are 
released  from  the  claims  of  business,  they  rush  off 
to  be  excited  and  amused  ;  and  the  one  thing  they 
dread  is  solitude,  in  which  they  might  have  to  face 
themselves.  In  certain  classes  of  society,  where 
work  is  not  necessary  to  obtain  a  livelihood,  this 
spirit  is  the  predominant  one  ;  life  is  all  a  scene  of 
gaiety  ;  one  amusement  follows  another  ;  and  the 
utmost  care  is  taken  to  avoid  any  intervals  where 
reflection  might  come  in. 

Religion  itself  may  be  dragged  into  this  circle  of 
dissipation.     It  is  possible  to  go  to  church  with  sub- 


JESUS  AND  HEROD  7 1 

stantially  the  same  object  with  which  one  goes  to  a 
place  of  amusement — in  the  hope  of  being  excited, 
of  having  the  feelings  stirred  and  the  aesthetic  sense 
gratified  or,  at  the  least,  consuming  an  hour  which 
might  otherwise  lie  heavy  on  the  hands.  With 
shame  be  it  said,  there  are  churches  enough  and 
preachers  enough  ready  to  meet  this  state  of  mind 
half-way.  With  the  fireworks  of  rhetoiic  or  the 
witchery  of  music  or  the  pomp  of  ritual  the  per- 
formance is  seasoned  up  to  the  due  pitch  ;  and  the 
audience  depart  with  precisely  the  same  kind  of 
feeling  with  which  they  might  leave  a  concert  or  a 
theatre.  Very  likely  it  is  accounted  a  great  success  ; 
but  Christ  has  not  spoken  :  He  is  resolutely  mute 
to  those  who  follow  religion  in  this  spirit. 

Sometimes  the  same  spirit  takes  another  direc_ 
tion  ;  it  becomes  speculative  and  sceptical  and,  like 
Herod,  "  questions  in  many  words."  When  I  have 
heard  some  people  propounding  religious  difficul- 
ties, the  answer  which  has  risen  to  my  lips  has  been, 
Why  should  you  be  able  to  believe  in  Christ  ?  what 
have  you  ever  done  to  render  yourselves  worthy  of 
such  a  privilege  ?  you  are  thinking  of  faith  as  a  com- 
pliment to  be  paid  to  Christ  ;  in  reality  the  power 
to  believe  in  Him  and  His  words  is  a  great  privilege 
and  honour,  that  requires  to  be  purchased  with 
thought,  humility  and  self-denial. 


72    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

,  We  do  not  owe  an  answer  to  the  religious  objec- 
tions of  everyone.  Religion  is,  indeed,  a  subject  on 
which  everyone  takes  the  liberty  of  speaking  ;  the 
most  unholy  and  evil-living  talk  and  write  of  it  noth- 
ing doubting  ;  but  in  reality  it  is  a  subject  on  which 
very  few  are  entitled  to  be  heard.  We  may  know 
beforehand,  from  their  lives,  what  the  opinions  of 
many  must  be  about  it  ;  and  we  know  what  their 
opinions  are  worth. 

It  may  be  thought  that  Jesus  ought  to  have  spoken 
to  Herod — that  He  missed  an  opportunity.  Ought 
He  not  to  have  appealed  to  his  conscience  and  at- 
tempted to  rouse  him  to  a  sense  of  his  sin  ?  To  this 
I  answer  that  His  silence  was  itself  this  appeal. 
Had  there  been  a  spark  of  conscience  left  in  Herod, 
those  Eyes  looking  him  through  and  through,  and 
that  divine  dignity  measuring  and  weighing  him, 
would  have  caused  his  sins  to  rise  up  out  of  the 
grave  and  overwhelm  him.  Jesus  was  silent,  that 
the  voice  of  the  dead  Baptist  might  be  heard. 

If  we  understood  it,  the  silence  of  Christ  is  the 
most  eloquent  of  all  appeals.  Can  you  remember 
when  you  used  to  hear  Him — when  the  words  of 
the  Book  and  the  preacher  used  to  move  you  in 
church,  when  the  singing  awoke  aspiration,  when 
the  Sabbath  was  holy  ground,  when  the  Spirit  of 
God   strove   with   you  ?     And   is  that  all  passed  or 


JESUS  AND   HEROD  73 

passing  away  ?  Does  Christ  speak  no  more  ?  If  a 
man  is  lying  ill,  and  perceives  day  by  day  everything 
about  him  becoming  silent — his  wife  avoiding  speech, 
visitors  sinking  their  voices  to  a  whisper,  footsteps 
falling  and  doors  shutting  noiselessly — he  knows 
that  his  illness  is  becoming  critical.  When  the 
traveller,  battling  with  the  snow-storm,  sinks  down 
at  last  to  rest,  he  feels  cold  and  painful  and  miser- 
able ;  but,  if  there  steals  over  him  a  soft,  sweet 
sense  of  slumber  and  silence,  then  is  the  moment  to 
rouse  himself  and  fight  off  his  peace,  if  he  is  ever  to 
stir  again.  There  is  such  a  spiritual  insensibility. 
It  means  that  the  Spirit  is  ceasing  to  strive,  and 
Christ  to  call.  If  it  is  creeping  over  you,  it  is  time 
to  be  anxious  ;  for  it  is  for  your  life. 


IV. 


How  far  Herod  understood  the  silence  of  Jesus 
we  cannot  tell.  It  is  too  likely  that  he  did  not  wish 
to  understand.  At  all  events  he  acted  as  if  he  did 
not  :  he  treated  it  as  if  it  were  stupidity.  He 
thought  that  the  reason  why  Jesus  would  not  work 
a  miracle  was  because  He  could  not  :  a  pretender's 
powers  generally  forsake  him  when  he  falls  into  the 
hands  of  the  police.     Jesus,   he  thought,   was  dis- 


74    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

credited  ;     His    Messianic    claims    were    exploded  ; 
even  His  followers  must  now  be  disillusioned. 

So  he  thought  and  so  he  said  ;  and  the  satellites 
round  his  throne  chimed  in  ;  for  there  is  no  place 
where  a  great  man's  word  is  echoed  with  more  par- 
rot like  precision  than  in  a  petty  court.  And  no 
doubt  they  considered  it  a  great  stroke  of  w^it,  well 
worthy  of  applause,  when  Herod,  before  sending 
Him  back  to  Pilate,  cast  over  His  shoulders  a  gor- 
geous robe — probably  in  imitation  of  the  v/hite  robe 
worn  at  Rome  by  candidates  for  office.  The  sug- 
gestion was  that  Jesus  was  a  candidate  for  the  throne 
of  the  country,  but  one  so  ridiculous  that  it  would 
be  a  mistake  to  treat  Him  with  anything  but  con- 
tempt. Thus  amidst  peals  of  laughter  was  Jesus 
driven  from  the  presence. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

BACK    TO    PILATE 

''  I  ^HE  sending  of  Jesus  to  Herod  had  not,  as  Pilate 
^  had  hoped,  finished  the  case,  and  so  the  Pris- 
oner was  brought  back  to  the  imperial  palace. 

Herod  had  affected  to  treat  Jesus  with  disdain  ; 
but  in  reality,  as  we  are  now  aware,  he  had  himself 
been  tried  and  exposed.  And  Jesus  returned  to  do 
the  same  thing  for  Pilate — to  make  manifest  what 
manner  of  spirit  he  was  of  ;  though  Pilate  had  no 
conception  that  this  was  going  to  happen  :  he  was 
only  annoyed  that  a  case  of  which  he  thought  he 
had  got  rid  was  thrown  on  his  hands  again.  He 
had  reluctantly  to  resume  it,  and  he  carried  it 
through  to  the  .end  ;  but,  before  this  point  was 
reached,  his  character  was  revealed,  down  to  its 
very  foundations,  in  the  light  of  Christ. 

Herod's  spirit  was  that  of  frivolous  worldliness — 
the  worldliness  which  tries  to  turn  the  whole  of  life 
into  a  pastime  or  a  joke  ;  Pilate's  was  that  of  stren- 
uous worldliness — the  worldliness  which  makes  self 


76    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

its  aim  and  subordinates  everything  to  success.  Of 
the  two  this  is  perhaps  the  more  common  ;  and, 
therefore,  it  will  be  both  interesting  and  instructive 
to  watch  its  self-revelation  under  the  search-light  of 
Christ's  proximity, 

I. 

Pilate  might  perhaps  have  been  justified  in  sus- 
pending the  release  of  Jesus  till  after  he  received 
Him  back  from  Herod  ;  because,  although  he  had 
himself  found  no  fault  in  Him,  his  ignorance  of 
Jewish  laws  and  customs  might  have  made  him  hesi- 
tate about  his  own  judgment  and  wish,  before  abso- 
lutely settling  the  case,  to  obtain  the  opinion  of  an 
expert.  When,  however,  he  learned  that  the  opin- 
ion of  Herod  coincided  with  his  own,  there  was  no 
further  excuse  for  delay. 

Accordingly  he  plainly  informed  the  Jews*  that 
he  had  examined  the  Prisoner  and  found  no  fault  in 
Him  ;  he  had  also  sent  Him  to  Herod  with  a  like 
result.  "  Therefore,"  he  continued.  Therefore — 
what?  "Therefore,"  you  expect  to  hear,  "I  dis- 
miss Him  from  the  bar  acquitted,  and  I  will  protect 


*  "  On  the  return  of  Jesus  from  Herod,  the  Sanhedrists  do  not 
seem  to  have  been  present.  Pilate  had  to  call  them  together, 
presumably  from  the  temple. "—Edersheim. 


BACK    TO   PILATE  77 

Him,  if  need  be,  from  all  violence."  This  would 
have  been  the  only  conclusion  in  accordance  with 
logic  and  justice.  Pilate's  conclusion  was  the  ex- 
traordinary one  :  "  Therefore  I  will  chastise  Him 
and  release  Him."  He  would  inflict  the  severe 
punishment  of  scourging  as  a  sop  to  their  rage,  and 
then  release  Him  as  a  tribute  to  justice. 

Was  a  more  unjust  proposal  ever  made  ?  Yet  it 
was  thoroughly  characteristic  of  the  man  who  made 
it  as  well  as  of  the  system  which  he  represented. 
The  spirit  of  imperial  Rome  was  the  spirit  of  com- 
promise, manoeuvre  and  expediency  ;  as  the  spirit 
of  government  has  too  often  been  elsewhere,  not 
only  in  the  State  but  also  in  the  Church.  Pilate 
had  settled  scores  of  cases  on  the  same  principle — or 
no  principle  ;  scores  of  officials  were  conducting 
their  administration  throughout  the  vast  Roman 
empire  in  the  same  w^ay  at  that  very  time.  Only  to 
Pilate  fell  the  sinister  distinction  of  putting  the  base 
system  in  operation  in  the  case  where  its  true  char- 
acter was  exposed  in  the  light  of  history. 

But  ought  we  not  to  believe  that  in  all  other  cases, 
however  obscure  the  victims,  the  spirit  manifested 
by  Pilate  has  been  equally  displeasing  to  God  ?  In 
our  Lord's  picture  of  the  Last  Judgment  one  strik- 
ing trait  is  that  all  are  astonished  at  the  reasons  as- 
signed for  their  destiny.     Those  on  the  right  hand 


78    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

are  credited  with  feeding  Christ  when  He  was  hun- 
gry, giving  Him  drink  when  He  was  thirsty,  and  so 
forth  ;  and  they  ask  in  surprise,  Lord,  when  saw 
we  Thee  hungry  and  fed  Thee,  or  thirsty  and  gave 
Thee  drink  ?  In  like  manner  those  on  the  left  are 
accused  of  seeing  Christ  hungry  but  neglecting  to 
feed  Him,  of  seeing  Him  thirsty  and  refusing  to 
give  Him  drink,  and  so  forth  ;  and  they  ask.  Lord, 
when  saw  we  Thee  hungry  or  thirsty  and  ministered 
not  to  Thee  ?  You  perhaps  think  they  say  so  to 
conceal  the  sins  of  which  they  are  conscious  ?  Not 
at  all.  They  are  really  astonished  :  they  think  their 
identity  has  been  mistaken  and  that  they  are  about 
to  be  punished  for  sins  they  have  never  committed. 
They  are  only  aware  of  having  neglected  a  few  chil- 
dren or  old  women  not  worth  thinking  about.  But 
Christ  says.  Each  of  these  stood  for  Me,  and,  when 
you  neglected  or  injured  them,  you  were  doing  it 
unto  Me.  Thus  may  all  life  at  the  last  prove  far 
more  high  and  solemn  than  we  now  imagine.  Take 
care  how  you  touch  your  brother  man  ;  you  may  be 
touching  the  apple  of  God's  eye  :  take  care  how 
you  do  an  injustice  even  to  a  child  ;  you  may  find 
out  at  the  last  that  it  is  Christ  you  have  been  as- 
sailing. 


BACK    TO   PILATE  79 


II, 


Pilate  had  cut  himself  loose  from  principle  when 
he  declared  Jesus  to  be  innocent  and  yet  ordered 
Him  to  be  chastised.  He  thought,  however,  that 
he  could  guide  his  course  safely  enough  to  the  point 
at  which  he  aimed.  We  are  to  see  how  completely 
he  failed  and  at  last  suffered  total  shipwreck.  Hands 
were  stretched  out  towards  him,  as  he  advanced, 
some  to  save  him,  some  to  do  the  reverse  ;  but  the 
impulse  of  his  own  false  beginning  carried  him  on 
to  the  fatal  issue. 

The  first  hand  stretched  out  to  him  was  a  loving 
and  helpful  one  :  it  was  the  hand  of  his  wife.  She 
sent  to  tell  him  of  a  dream  she  had  had  about  his 
Prisoner  and  to  warn  him  to  have  nothing  to  do 
with  "  that  just  man." 

Difficulties  have  been  made  as  to  how  she  could 
know  about  Christ  ;  but  there  is  no  real  difficulty. 
Probably,  while  Jesus  was  away  at  Herod's,  Pilate 
had  entered  the  palace  and  told  his  wife  about  the 
singular  trial  and  about  the  impression  which  Jesus 
had  made  upon  his  mind.  When  he  left  her,  she 
had  fallen  asleep  and  dreamed  about  it  ;  for,  though 
our  version  makes  her  say,  "  This  night  I  have 
dreamed  about  Him,"  the  literal  translation  is  "  this 


8o    THE    TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

day"  ;  and  of  course  there  might  be  many  causes 
why  a  lady  should  fall  asleep  in  Ihe  daytime.  Her 
dream  had  been  such  as  to  fill  her  with  a  vague 
sense  of  alarm,  and  her  message  to  her  husband  was 
the  result. 

This  incident  has  taken  a  strong  hold  of  the  Chris- 
tian imagination  and  given  rise  to  all  kinds  of 
guesses.  Tradition  has  handed  down  the  name  of 
Pilate's  wife  as  Claudia  Procula  ;  and  it  is  said  that 
she  was  a  proselyte  of  the  Jewish  religion  ;  as  high- 
toned  heathen  ladies  in  that  age  not  infrequently 
became  when  circumstances  brought  the  Old  Testa- 
ment into  their  hands.  The  Greek  Church  has  gone 
so  far  as  to  canonise  her,  supposing  that  she  became 
a  Christian.  Poets  and  artists  have  tried  to  repro- 
duce her  dream.  Many  will  remember  the  picture 
of  it  in  the  Dore  Gallery  in  London.  The  dream- 
ing woman  is  represented  standing  in  a  balcony  and 
looking  up  an  ascending  valley,  which  is  crowded 
with  figures.  It  is  the  vale  of  years  or  centuries, 
and  the  figures  are  the  generations  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  yet  to  be.  Immediately  in  front  of  her  is 
the  Saviour  Himself,  bearing  His  cross  ;  behind  and 
around  Him  are  His  twelve  apostles  and  the  crowds 
of  their  converts  ;  behind  these  the  Church  of  the 
early  centuries,  with  the  great  fathers,  Polycarp  and 
Tertullian,    Athanasius    and    Gregory,    Chrysostom 


BACK    TO   PILATE 


and  Augustine  ;  further  back  the  Church  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  with  the  majestic  forms  and  warlike 
accoutrements  of  the  Crusaders  rising  from  its 
midst  ;  behind  these  the  Church  of  modern  times, 
with  its  heroes  ;  then  multitudes  upon  multitudes 
that  no  man  can  number  pressing  forward  in  broad- 
ening ranks,  till  far  aloft,  in  the  white  and  shining 
heavens,  lo,  tier  on  tier  and  circle  upon  circle,  with 
the  angels  of  God  hovering  above  them  and  on  their 
flanks  ;  and  in  the  midst,  transfigured  to  the  bright- 
ness of  a  star,  the  cross,  which  in  its  rough  reality 
He  is  bearing  wearily  below. 

Of  course  these  are  but  fancies.  In  the  woman's 
anxiety  that  no  evil  should  befall  the  Innocent  we 
may,  with  greater  certainty,  trace  the  vestiges  of 
the  ancient  Roman  justice  as  it  may  have  dwelt  in 
the  noble  matrons,  like  Volumnia  and  Cornelia, 
whose  names  adorn  the  pristine  annals  of  her  race  ; 
while  the  wife's  solicitude  to  save  her  husband  from 
a  deed  of  sin  associates  her  with  the  still  nobler 
women  of  all  ages  who  have  walked  like  guardian 
angels  by  the  side  of  men  immersed  in  the  world 
and  liable  to  be  coarsened  by  its  contact,  to  warn 
them  of  the  higher  laws  and  the  unseen  powers. 
We  can  hardly  doubt  that  the  hand  of  God  was  in 
this  dream,  or  that  it  was  outstretched  to  save  Pilate 
from  the  doom  to  which  he  was  hastening. 


82    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

III. 

Another  hand,  however,  was  now  stretched  out  to 
him  ;  and  he  grasped  it  eagerly,  thinking  it  was 
going  to  save  him  ;  when  it  suddenly  pushed  him 
down  towards  the  abyss.  It  was  the  hand  of  the 
mob  of  Jerusalem. 

Up  to  this  point  the  actors  assembled  on  the  stage 
of  Christ's  trial  were  comparatively  few.  It  had 
been  the  express  desire  of  the  Jewish  authorities  to 
hurry  the  case  through  before  the  populace  of  the 
city  and  the  crowds  of  Passover  strangers  got  wind 
of  it.  The  proceedings  had  accordingly  gone  for- 
ward all  night  ;  and  it  was  still  early  morning.  As 
Jesus  was  led  through  the  streets  to  Herod  and 
back,  accompanied  by  so  many  of  the  principal  citi- 
zens, no  doubt  a  considerable  number  must  have 
gathered.  But  now  circumstances  brought  a  great 
multitude  on  the  scene. 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  Roman  governor,  on  the 
Passover  morning,  to  release  a  prisoner  to  the  peo- 
ple. As  there  were  generally  plenty  of  political 
prisoners  on  hand,  rebels  against  the  detested  Roman 
yoke,  but,  for  that  very  reason,  favourites  and  heroes 
of  the  Jewish  populace,  this  was  a  privilege  not  to 
be  forgotten  ;  and,  while  the  trial  of  Jesus  was  pro- 
ceeding in  the  open  air,  the  mob  of   the  city  came 


BACA'    TO   PILATE  83 

pouring  through  the  palace  gates  and  up  the  avenue, 
shouting  for  their  annual  gift. 

For  once  their  demand  was  welcome  to  Pilate,  for 
he  thought  he  saw  in  it  a  way  of  escape  from  his  own 
difficulty.  He  would  offer  them  Jesus,  who  had  a  few 
days  before  been  the  hero  of  a  popular  demonstra- 
tion, and  as  an  aspirant  to  the  Messiahship  would, 
he  imagined,  be  the  very  person  they  should  want. 

It  was  an  utterly  unjust  thing  to  do  ;  because, 
first,  it  was  treating  Jesus  as  if  He  were  already  a 
condemned  man,  whereas  Pilate  had  himself  a  few 
minutes  before  declared  Him  innocent  ;  and,  sec- 
ondly, it  was  staking  the  life  of  an  innocent  man  on 
a  guess,  which  might  be  mistaken,  as  to  the  fancy 
of  the  mob.  No  doubt,  however,  Pilate  considered 
it  kind,  as  he  felt  sure  of'^the  disposition  of  the  popu- 
lace ;  and,  at  all  events,  the  chance  of  extricating 
himself  was  too  good  to  lose. 

The  minds  of  the  mob  it  turned  out,  however, 
were  pre-occupied  with  a  favourite  of  their  own. 
Singularly  enough  his  name  also  appears  to  have 
been  Jesus  :  "  Jesus  Barabbas"  is  the  name  he  bears 
in  some  of  the  best  manuscripts  of  the  gospel  of 
St.  Matthew.*     He  was  "  a  notable  prisoner,"  who 

*  See  Keim's  note.  Westcott  and  Hort  reject  it.  Some  have  fur- 
ther seen  an  impressive  coincidence  in  the  name  Barabbas,  inter- 
preting it  "  son  of  the  father  "  Jesus  was  by  no  means  a  rare  name. 


84    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

had  been  guilty  of  insurrection  in  the  city,  in  which 
blood  had  been  spilt,  and  was  now  lying  in  jail  with 
the  associates  whose  ringleader  he  had  been.  A 
bandit,  half  robber  half  insurrectionary  leader,  is  a 
figure  which  easily  lays  hold  of  the  popular  imagina- 
tion. They  hesitated,  however,  when  Pilate  pro- 
posed Jesus  ;  and  Pilate  seems  to  have  sent  for  the 
other  prisoner,  that  they  might  see  the  two  side  by 
side  ;  for  they  could  not,  he  thought,  hesitate  for  a 
moment,  if  they  had  the  opportunity  of  observing 
the  contrast. 

But  this  brief  interval  was  utilised  by  the  Sanhe- 
drists  to  persuade  the  multitude.  It  must  be  re- 
membered that  this  was  not  the  Galilean  crowd  by 
which  Jesus  had  been  brought  in  triumph  into  the 
city  a  few  days  before,  but  the  mob  of  Jerusalem, 
with  whom  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  had  influ- 
ence.* The  priests  and  scribes,  then,  mingled 
among  them  and  used  every  artifice  they  could 
think  of.  Probably  their  most  effective  argument 
was  to  whisper  that  Jesus  was  obviously  the  choice 
of  Pilate,  and  therefore  should  not  be  theirs. 

If  Pilate  actually  placed  the  two  Jesuses  side  by 
side   on   his   platform,    what  a  sight   it  was  !     The 

*  Hence  the  contrast,  common  in  popular  preaching,  between 
the  multitude  crying  "  Hosanna"  and  the  same  multitude  crying 
**  Crucify"  is  incorrect. 


BACK   TO   PILATE  85 

political  desperado,  stained  with  murder,  there  ;  the 
Healer  and  Teacher,  who  had  gone  about  contin- 
ually doing  good,  the  Son  of  man,  the  Son  of  God, 
here.  Now  which  will  you  have — Jesus  or  Barab- 
bas  ?  And  the  cry  came  ringing  from  ten  thousand 
throats,  "  Barabbas  !" 

To  Jesus  what  must  that  have  meant  !  These 
were  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  whom  He  had 
longed  to  gather  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens 
under  her  wings  ;  they  were  the  hearers  of  His 
words,  the  subjex:ts  of  His  miracles,  the  objects  of 
His  love  ;  and  they  prefer  to  Him  a  murderer  and  a 
robber. 

This  scene  has  often  been  alleged  as  the  self-con- 
demnation of  democracy.  Vox  populi  vox  Dei,  its 
flatterers  have  said  ;  but  look  yonder  :  when  the 
multitude  has  to  choose  between  Jesus  and  Barab- 
bas, it  chooses  Barabbas.  If  this  be  so,  the  scene 
is  equally  decisive  against  aristocracy.  Did  the 
priests,  scribes  and  nobles  behave  better  than  the 
mob  ?     It  was  by  their  advice  that  the  mob  chose. 

It  is  poor  sport,  on  either  side,  to  pelt  opponents 
with  such  reproaches.  It  is  better  far  to  learn  holy 
fear  from  such  a  scene  in  reference  to  ourselves,  to 
our  own  party  and  to  our  country.  What  are  we  to 
admire  ?  Whom  are  we  to  follow  ?  In  what  are  we 
to  seek  salvation  ?     Certainly  there  are  great  ques- 


86    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 


tions  awaiting  the  democracy.  Whom  will  it  choose 
• — the  revolutionist  or  the  regenerator  ?  And  to 
what  will  it  trust — cleverness  or  character  ?  What 
spirit  will  it  adopt  as  its  own — that  of  violence  or 
that  of  love?  Which  means  will  it  employ — those 
which  work  from  without  inwards,  or  those  which 
work  from  within  outwards  ?  What  end  will  it  seek 
— the  kingdom  of  meat  and  drink,  or  the  kingdom 
which  is  righteousness  and  peace  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost  ?  But  such  questions  are  not  for  the 
democracy  alone.  All  classes,  all  parties,  every 
generation  and  every  country  have,  from  time  to 
time,  to  face  them.  And  so  has  the  individual. 
Perhaps  all  the  great  choices  of  life  ultimately  re- 
solve themselves  into  this  one — ^Jesus  or  Barabbas  ? 


IV. 


To  Pilate  the  choice  of  Barabbas  must  have  been 
not  only  a  surprise,  but  a  staggering  blow.  "  What 
then,"  he  asked,  "shall  I  do  with  Jesus?"  Prob- 
ably he  expected  the  answer,  Give  us  Him  too  ;  and 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  he  would  willingly 
have  complied  with  such  a  request.  But,  instead  of 
this,  there  came,  quick  as  echo,  the  reply,  "  Crucify 
Him  !"   and  it  was  more  a  command  than  a  request. 

He  was  now  made  sensible  that  what  he  had  con- 


/ 


i 


BACK    TO   PILATE  87 


sidered  a  loophole  of  escape  was  a  noose  into  which 
he  had  thrust  his  head.  He  might,  indeed,  have 
intimated  that  he  had  only  given  them  the  preroga- 
tive to  save  one  of  the  two  lives,  not  to  take  either 
of  them  away.  But  virtually  he  had  put  both  pris- 
oners at  their  disposal.  In  this  way,  at  all  events, 
the  mob  interpreted  the  situation  ;  and  he  did  not 
venture  to  contradict  them. 

He  was,  however,  deeply  moved,  and  he  did  a 
very  unusual  thing  :  calling  for  a  basin  of  water,  he 
washed  his  hands  before  them  all  and  said,  "  I  am 
innocent  from  the  blood  of  this  just  Person  ;  see  ye 
to  it."  This  was  an  impressive  act  ;  yet  its  im- 
pressiveness  was  too  theatrical.  He  washed  his  hands 
when  he  ought  to  have  exerted  them.  And  blood 
does  not  come  off  so  easily.  He  could  not  abnegate 
his  responsibility  and  cast  it  upon  others.  Public 
men  frequently  think  they  can  do  so  :  they  say  that 
they  bow  to  the  force  of  public  opinion,  but  wash 
their  hands  of  the  deed.  But  if  their  position,  like 
Pilate's,  demands  that  they  should  decide  for  them- 
selves and  take  the  consequences,  the  guilt  of  sinful 
action  clings  to  them  and  cannot  be  transferred. 
This  whole  scene,  indeed,  is  a  mirror  for  magis- 
trates, to  show  them  down  what  dark  paths  they 
may  be  pushed  if  they  resign  themselves  to  be  the 
mere  tools  of  the  popular  will.     Pilate  ought  to  have 


88    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

opposed  the  popular  will  at  whatever  risk  and  re- 
fused to  do  the  deed  of  which  he  disapproved.  But 
such  a  course  would  have  involved  loss  to  himself  ; 
and  this  was  the  real  reason  for  his  conduct. 

The  populace  felt  their  triumph,  and  in  reply  to 
his  solemn  dissociation  of  himself  from  Christ's 
death  sent  back  the  insulting  cry,  "  His  blood  be  on 
us  and  on  our  children."  Pilate  was  afraid  of  the 
guilt,  but  they  were  not.  Well  might  the  heavens 
have  blackened  above  them  at  that  word,  and  the 
earth  shuddered  beneath  their'  feet  !  Profaner  cry 
was  never  uttered.  But  they  were  mad  with  rage 
and  reckless  of  everything  but  victory  in  the  contest 
in  which  they  were  engaged.  Still,  their  words 
were  not  forgotten  in  the  quarter  to  which  they 
were  directed  ;  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  curse 
which  they  had  invoked  descended  on  their  city  and 
their  race.  Meanwhile  they  gained  their  end  :  the 
will  of  Pilate  was  breaking  down  before  their  well- 
directed  persistency. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  CROWN  OF  THORNS 

PILATE  had  failed  in  his  attempt  to  save  Jesus 
from  the  hands  of  His  prosecutors,  whose  rage 
against  their  Victim  was  only  intensified  by  the 
struggle  in  which  they  had  engaged  ;  and  there  was 
no  course  now  open  to  him  but  to  hand  Jesus  over 
to  the  executioners  for,  at  least,  the  preliminary  tor- 
tures of  crucifixion. 

It  is  not  in  accordance  with  modern  Christian  sen- 
timent to  dwell  very  much  on  the  physical  sufferings 
of  Christ.  Once  the  feeling  on  this  subject  was 
very  different  :  in  old  writers,  like  the  mystic  Tauler, 
for  example,  every  detail  is  enlarged  upon  and  even 
exaggerated,  till  the  page  seems  to  reek  with  blood 
and  the  mind  of  the  reader  grows  sick  with  horror. 
We  rather  incline  to  throw  a  veil  over  the  ghastly 
details,  or  we  uncover  them  only  so  far  as  may  be 
necessary  in  order  to  understand  the  condition  of 
His  mind,  in  which  we  seek  His  real  sufferings. 


90    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

The  sacred  body  of  our  Lord  was  exposed  to  many 
shocks  and  cruelties  before  the  final  and  complicated 
horrors  of  the  crucifixion.  First,  there  was  His 
agony  in  the  garden.  Then — not  to  speak  of  the 
chains  laid  on  Him  when  He  was  arrested — there 
was  the  blow  on  the  face  from  the  seivant  of  the 
high  priest.  After  His  condemnation  by  the  eccle- 
siastical authorities  in  the  middle  of  the  night  they 
"  did  spit  in  His  face  and  buffeted  Him  ;"  and 
others  smote  Him  with  the  palms  of  their  hands, 
saying,  "  Prophesy  unto  us,  Thou  Christ.  Who  is 
he  that  smote  Thee  ?"  The  present  is,  therefore, 
the  fourth  access  of  physical  suffering  which  He 
had  to  endure. 

First,  they  scourged  Him.  This  was  done  by  the 
Roman  soldiers  by  order  of  their  master  Pilate, 
though  the  governor,  in  all  likelihood,  retired  from 
the  scene  while  it  was  being  inflicted.  It  took  place, 
it  would  appear,  on  the  platform  where  the  trial 
had  been  held,  and  in  the  eyes  of  all.  The  victim 
was  stripped  and  stretched  against  a  pillar,  or  bent 
over  a  low  post,  his  hands  being  tied,  so  that  he  had 
no  means  of  defending  himself.  The  instrument  of 
torture  was  a  sort  of  knout  or  cat-o'-nine-tails,  with 
bits  of  iron  or  bone  attached  to  the  ends  of  the 
thongs.  Not  only  did  the  blows  cut  the  skin  and 
draw  blood,  but  not  infrequently  the  victim  died  in 


THE    CROWN  OF    THORNS  91 

the  midst  of  the  operation.  Some  have  supposed 
that  Pilate,  out  of  consideration  for  Jesus,  may  have 
moderated  either  the  number  or  the  severity  of  the 
strokes  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  his  plan  of  releas- 
ing Him  depended  on  his  being  able  to  show  the 
Jews  that  He  had  suffered  severely.  The  inability 
of  Jesus  to  bear  His  own  cross  to  the  place  of  execu- 
tion was  no  doubt  chiefly  due  to  the  exhaustion  pro- 
duced by  this  infliction  ;  and  this  is  a  better  indica- 
tion of  the  degree  of  severity  than  mere  conjecture. 
After  the  scourging  the  soldiers  took  Him  away 
with  them  to  their  own  quarters  in  the  palace  and 
called  together  the  whole  band  to  enjoy  the  specta- 
cle. Evidently  they  thought  that  He  was  already 
condemned  to  be  crucified  ;  and  anyone  condemned 
to  crucifixion  seems,  after  being  scourged,  to  have 
been  handed  over  to  the  soldiery  to  be  handled  as 
they  pleased,  just  as  a  hunted  creature,  when  it  is 
caught,  is  flung  to  the  dogs.  And,  indeed,  this 
comparison  is  only  too  appropriate  ;  because,  as 
Luther  has  remarked,  in  those  days  men  were  treated 
as  only  brutes  are  treated  now.  To  us  it  is  incom- 
prehensible how  the  whole  band  should  have  been 
called  together  merely  to  gloat  over  the  sufferings 
of  a  fellow  creature  and  to  turn  His  pain  and  shame 
into  brutal  mockery.  This,  however,  was  their  pur- 
pose ;  and  they  enjoyed  it  as  schoolboys  enjoy  the 


92    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

terror  of  a  tortured  animal.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  these  were  men  who  on  the  field  of  battle  were 
inured  to  bloodshed  and  at  Rome  found  their  chief 
delight  in  watching  the  sports  of  the  arena,  where 
gladiators  butchered  one  another  to  make  a  Roman 
holiday. 

Their  horseplay  took  the  form  of  a  mock  corona- 
tion. They  had  caught  the  drift  of  the  trial  suffi- 
ciently to  know  that  the  charge  against  Jesus  was 
that  He  pretended  to  be  a  king  ;  and  lofty  preten- 
sions on  the  part  of  one  who  appears"  to  be  mean 
and  poor  easily  lend  themselves  to  ridicule.  Be- 
sides, in  their  minds  there  was  perhaps  an  amused 
scorn  at  the  thought  of  a  Jew  aiming  at  a  sover- 
eignty above  that  of  Caesar.  Foreign  soldiers  sta- 
tioned in  Palestine  cannot  have  liked  the  Jews,  who 
hated  them  so  cordially  ;  and  this  may  have  given 
an  edge  to  their  scorn  of  a  Jewish  pretender. 

They  treated  Him  as  if  they  believed  Him  to  be 
a  king.  A  king  must  wear  the  purple.  And  so 
they  got  hold  of  an  old,  cast-off  officer's  cloak  of 
this  colour  and  threw  it  over  His  shoulders.  Then 
a  king  must  have  a  crown.  So  one  of  them  ran  out 
to  the  park  in  which  the  palace  stood  and  pulled  a 
few  twigs  from  a  tree  or  bush.  These  happened  to 
be  thorny  ;  but  this  did  not  matter,  it  was  all  the 
better  ;  they  were  plaited  into  the  rude  semblance 


THE    CROIVX   OF    THORNS  93 

of  a  crown  and  crushed  down  on  His  head.  To 
complete  the  outfit,  a  king  must  have  a  sceptre. 
And  this  they  found  without  difficulty  :  a  reed, 
probably  used  as  a  walking-stick,  being  thrust  into 
His  right  hand.  Thus  was  the  mock  king  dressed 
up.  And  then,  as  on*  occasions  of  state  they  had 
seen  subjects  bow  the  knee  to  the  emperor,  saying, 
"Ave,  Ccesar !''  so  they  advanced  one  after  another 
to  Jesus  and,  bending  low,  said,  "  Hail,  King  of  the 
Jews  !"  But,  after  passing  with  mock  solemnity, 
each  turned  and,  with  a  burst  of  laughter,  struck 
Him  a  blow,  using  for  this  purpose  the  reed  which 
He  had  dropped.  And,  though  I  hardly  dare  to 
repeat  it,  they  covered  His  face  with  spittle  ! 

What  a  spectacle  !  It  might  have  been  expected 
that  those  who  were  themselves  poor  and  lowly, 
and  therefore  subject  to  the  oppression  of  the  power- 
ful, would  have  felt  sympathy  and  compassion  for 
one  of  their  own  station  when  crushed  by  the  foot 
of  tyranny.  But  there  is  no  cruelty  like  the  cruelty 
of  underlings.  There  is  an  instinct  in  all  to  wish  to 
see  others  cast  down  beneath  themselves  ;  and, 
especially,  if  one  who  has  aimed  high  is  brought 
low,  there  is  a  sense  of  personal  exultation  at  his 
downfall.  Such  are  the  base  passions  which  lie  at  the 
bottom  of  men's  hearts  ;  and  the  dregs  of  the  dregs 
of  human  nature  were  revealed  on  this  occasion. 


94    THE    TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

What  must  it  have  been  to  Jesus  to  look  on  it — to 
have  it  thrust  on  His  sight  and  into  contact  ^N\^^\ 
His  very  person,  so  that  He  could  not  get  away  ? 
What  must  it  have  been  to  Him,  with  His  delicate 
bodily  oiganism  and  sensitive  mind,  to  be  in  the 
hands  of  those  rude  and  i«uthless  men  ?  It  was, 
however,  necessary,  in  order  that  He  might  fully 
accomplish  the  work  which  He  had  come  to  the 
world  to  perform.  He  had  come  to  redeem  human- 
ity— to  go  down  to  the  veiy  lowest  depths  to  seek 
and  to  save  the  lost  ;  and,  therefore,  He  had  to 
make  close  acquaintance  with  human  nature  in  its 
worst  specimens  and  its  extremest  degradation.  He 
was  to  be  the  Saviour  of  sinners  as  bad  and  degraded 
as  even  these  soldiers  ;  and,  therefore,  He  had  to 
come  in  contact  with  them  and  see  what  they  were. 

Thus  have  I  passed  as  lightly  as  was  possible  over 
the  details  ;  nor  would  my  readers  wish  me  to  dwell 
on  them  further.  But  it  will  be  profitable  to  linger 
on  this  spot  a  little  longer,  in  order  to  learn  the  les- 
sons of  the  scene. 

First,  notice  in  the  conduct  of  the  tormentors  of 
Jesus  the  abuse  of  one  of  the  gifts  of  God.  In  the 
conduct  of  the  Roman  soldiers  from  first  to  last  the 
most  striking  feature  is  that  at  every  point  they 
turned   their  work    into   horseplay   and   merriment. 


THE    CROWN   OF    THORNS  95 

Now,  laughter  is  a  gift  of  God.  It  is  a  kind  of  spice 
which  the  Creator  has  given  to  be  taken  along  with 
the  somewhat  unpalatable  food  of  ordinary  life.  It 
is  a  kind  of  sunshine  to  enliven  the  landscape,  which 
is  otherwise  too  dull  and  sombre.  The  power  of 
seeing  the  amusing  side  of  things  immensely  lightens 
the  load  of  life  ;  and  he  who  possesses  the  gift  of 
evoking  hearty  and  innocent  mirth  may  be  a  true 
benefactor  of  his  species.* 

But,  while  laughter  is  a  gift  of  God,  there  is  no 
other  gift  of  His  which  is  more  frequently  abused 
and  converted  from  a  blessing  into  a  curse.  When 
laughter  is  directed  against  sacred  things  and  holy 
persons  ;  when  it  is  used  to  belittle  and  degrade 
what  is  great  and  reverend  ;  when  it  is  employed  as 
a  weapon  with  which  to  torture  weakness  and  cover 


*  A  ministenal  friend  told  me  that  he  once,  in  the  hearing  of 
Dr.  Andrew  Bonar,  made  reference  to  some  things  in  the  life  of 
St.  Paul  which  seemed  to  him  to  betray  on  the  part  of  the 
apostle  a  sense  of  humour.  He  was  not  very  sure  how  Dr. 
Bonar  might  take  such  a  remark,  and  at  the  close  he  asked  if  he 
agreed  with  him.  "Not  only,"  was  the  reply,  "do  I  agree 
with  you,  but  I  go  further :  I  think  there  are  distinct  traces  of 
humour  in  the  sayings  and  the  conduct  of  our  Lord  ;"  and  he 
proceeded  to  quote  examples.  Everyone  is  aware  how  Dr. 
Bonar  himself  knew  how  to  combine  with  the  profoundest  rev- 
erence and  saintliness  a  strain  of  delightful  mirth  ;  and  the  ab- 
sence of  this  is  the  great  defect  of  his  otherwise  charming  auto- 
biography. 


96    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

innocence  with  ridicule — then,  instead  of  being  the 
foam  on  the  cup  at  the  banquet  of  life,  it  becomes 
a  deadly  poison.  Laughter  .guided  these  soldiers 
in  their  inhuman  acts  ;  it  concealed  from  them  the 
true  nature  of  what  they  were  doing  ;  and  it  wound 
ed  Christ  more  deeply  than  even  the  scourge  of 
Pilate. 

A  second  thing  to  be  noticed  is  that  itw^as  against 
the  kingly  office  of  the  Redeemer  that  the  opposi- 
tion of  rhen  was  directed  on  this  occasion.  It  was 
different  on  a  former  occasion,  when  He  was  abused 
at  the  close  of  the  ecclesiastical  trial.  Then  it  was 
His  prophetic  office  that  was  turned  into  ridicule  : 
*'  when  they  had  blindfolded  Him,  they  struck  Him 
on  the  face  and  asked  Him,  saying.  Prophesy  who 
is  it  that  smote  thee."  Here,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  ridicule  was  directed  against  Him  entirely  on 
the  ground  of  His  claiming  to  be  a  king.  The 
soldiers  considered  it  an  absurdity  and  a  joke  that 
one  apparently  so  mean,  friendless  and  powerless 
should  make  any  such  pretensions. 

Many  a  time  since  then  has  the  same  derision  been 
awakened  by  this  claim  of  Christ.  He  is  the  King 
of  nations.  But  earthly  kings  and  statesmen  have 
ridiculed  the  idea  that  His  will  and  His  law  should 
control  them  in  their  schemes  and  ambitions.  Even 
where    His   authority    is    nominally   acknowledged, 


THE    CROWX   OF    THORNS  97 

both  aristocracies  and  democracies  are  slow  to  rec- 
ognise that  their  legislation  and  customs  should  be 
regulated  by  His  words.  He  is  King  of  the  Church. 
Andrew  Melville  told  King  James  :  "  There  are  two 
kings  and  two  kingdoms  in  Scotland  ;  there  is  King 
James,  the  head  of  this  commonwealth,  and  there  is 
Christ  Jesus,  the  King  of  the  Church,  whose  subject 
James  VI.  is,  and  of  whose  kingdom  he  is  not  a 
king,  nor  a  lord,  nor  a  head,  but  a  member."  The 
entile  history  of  the  Scottish  Church  has  been  one 
long  struggle  to  maintain  this  truth  ;  but  the  strug- 
gle has  frequently  been  carried  on  in  the  face  of  op- 
position almost  as  scornful  as  that  which  assailed 
Jesus  in  Pilate's  palace.  Most  vital  of  all  is  the  ac- 
knowledgment of  Christ's  kingship  in  the  realm  of 
the  individual  life  ;  but  it  is  here  that  His  will  is 
most  resisted.  In  words  we  acknowledge  allegiance 
to  Him  ;  but  in  which  of  us  has  the  victory  over  the 
flesh  been  so  complete  that  His  full  claim  has  been 
conceded,  to  have  the  arrangement  of  our  business 
and  our  leisure  and  to  dictate  what  is  to  be  done 
with  our  time,  our  means  and  our  services  ? 

A  third  lesson  is  to  recognise  that  in  what  Jesus 
bore  on  this  occasion  He  was  suffering  for  us. 

Of  all  the  features  of  the  scene  the  one  that  has 
most  impressed  the  imagination  of  Christendom  is 
the   crown   of   thorns.     It   was   something  unusual, 


98    THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

and  brought  out  the  ingenuity  and  wantonness  of 
cruelty.  Besides,  as  the  wound  of  a  thorn  has  been 
felt  by  everyone,  it  brings  the  pain  of  the  Sufferer 
nearer  to  us  than  any  other  incident.  But  it  is 
chiefly  by  its  symbolism  that  it  has  laid  hold  of  the 
Christian  mind.  When  Adam  and  Eve  were  driven 
from  the  garden  into  the  bleak  and  toilsome  world, 
their  doom  was  that  the  ground  should  bring  forth 
to  them  thorns  and  thistles.  Thorns  were  the  sign 
of  the  curse  ;  that  is,  of  their  banishment  from 
God's  presence  and  of  all  the  sad  and  painful  con- 
sequences following  therefrom.  And  does  not  the 
thorn,  staring  from  the  naked  bough  of  winter  in 
threatening  ugliness,  lurking  beneath  the  leaves  or 
flowers  of  summer  to  wound  the  approaching  hand, 
tearing  the  clothes  or  the  flesh  of  the  traveller  who 
tries  to  make  his  way  thr'ough  the  thicket,  burning 
in  the  flesh  wher^e  it  has  sunk,  fitly  stand  for  that 
side  of  life  which  we  associate  with  sin — the  side  of 
care,  fret,  pain,  disappointment,  disease  and  death  ? 
In  a  word,  it  symbolises  the  curse.  But  it  was  the 
mission  of  Christ  to  bear  the  curse  ;  and,  as  He 
lifted  it  on  His  own  head,  He  took  it  off  the  world. 
He  bore  our  sins  and  carried  our  sorrows. 

Why  is  it  that,  when  we  think  of  the  crown  of 
thorns  now,  it  is  not  only  with  horror  and  pity,  but 
with  an  exultation  which  cannot  be  repressed  ?     Be- 


THE    CROIVX   OF    THORNS  99 

cause,  cruel  as  was  the  soldiers'  jest,  there  was  a 
divine  fitness  in  their  act  ;  and  wisdom  was,  even 
through  their  sin,  fulfilling  her  own  intention.  There 
are  some  persons  with  faces  so  handsome  that  the 
meanest  dress,  which  would  excite  laughter  or  dis- 
gust if  worn  by  others,  looks  well  on  them,  and  the 
merest  shreds  of  ornament,  stuck  on  them  anyhow, 
are  more  attractive  than  the  most  elaborate  toilets 
of  persons  less  favoured  by  nature.  And  so  about 
Christ  there  was  something  which  converted  into 
ornaments  even  the  things  flung  at  Him  as  insults. 
When  they  called  Him  the  Friend  of  publicans  and 
sinners,  though  they  did  it  in  derision,  they  were 
giving  Him  a  title  for  which  a  hundred  generations 
have  loved  Him  ;  and  so,  when  they  put  on  His 
head  the  crown  of  thorns,  they  were  unconsciously 
bestowing  the  noblest  wreath  that  man  could  weave 
Him.  Down  through  the  ages  Jesus  passes,  still 
wearing  the  crown  of  thorns  ;  and  His  followers  and 
lovers  desire  for  Him  no  other  diadem. 

Fourthly,  this  scene  teaches  the  lesson  of  patience 
in  suffering. 

I  remember  a  saint  whom  it  was  my  privilege  to 
visit  in  the  beginning  of  my  life  as  a  minister. 
Though  poor  and  uneducated,  she  was  a  person  of 
very  unusual  natural  powers  ;  her  ideas  were  sin- 
gularly original,  and  she  had  a  charming  pleasant- 


lOO  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

ness  of  wit.  Though  not  very  old,  she  knew  that 
she  was  doomed  to  die  ;  and  the  disease  from  which 
she  was  suffering  was  one  of  the  most  painful  inci- 
dent to  humanity.  Often,  I  remember,  she  would 
tell  me,  that,  when  the  torture  was  at  the  worst,  she 
lay  thinking  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Saviour,  and 
said  to  herself  that  the  shooting  pains  were  not  so 
bad  as  the  spikes  of  the  thorns. 

Christ's  sufferings  are  a  rebuke  to  our  softness 
and  self-pleasing.  It  is  not,  indeed,  wrong  to  enjoy 
the  comforts  and  the  pleasures  of  life.  God  sends 
these  ;  and,  if  we  receive  them  with  gratitude,  they 
may  lift  us  nearer  to  Himself.  But  we  are  too  ter- 
rified to  be  parted  from  them  and  too  afraid  of  pain 
and  poverty.  Especially  ought  the  sufferings  of 
Christ  to  brace  us  up  to  endure  whatever  of  pain  or 
reproach  we  may  have  to  encounter  for  His  sake. 
Many  would  like  to  be  Christians,  but  are  kept  back 
from  decision  by  dread  of  the  laughter  of  profane 
companions  or  by  the  prospect  of  some  worldly  loss. 
But  we  cannot  look  at  the  suffering  Saviour  without 
being  ashamed  of  such  cowardly  fears.  If  the  crown 
of  thorns  now  becomes  Christ  so  well  as  to  be  the 
pride  and  the  song  of  men  and  angels,  be  assured 
that  any  twig  from  that  crown  which  we  may  have 
to  wear  will  one  day  turn  out  to  be  our  most  daz- 
zling ornament. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 
THE  SHIPWRECK  OF  PILATE 

WE  have  lingered  long  at  the  judgment-seat  of 
Pilate.  Far  too  long.  Pilate  has  detained 
us.  He  knew  perfectly  well,  the  first  glance  he 
bestowed  on  the  case,  what  it  was  his  duty  to  do. 
But,  instead  of  acting  at  once  on  his  conviction,  he 
put  off.  Of  such  delay  good  seldom  comes.  Pilate 
gave  temptation  time  to  assail  him.  He  resisted  it, 
indeed  ;  he  fought  hard  and  long  against  it  ;  but  he 
ought  never  to  have  given  it  the  chance.  And  he 
miserably  succumbed  in  the  end. 


When  Pilate  delivered  Jesus  over  to  be  scourged, 
it  looked  as  if  he  had  surrendered  Him  to  the  cross  ; 
and  so  in  all  probability  the  Jews  thought,  because 
scourging  was  the  usual  preliminary  to  crucifixion. 
He,  however,  had  not  yet  abandoned  the  hope  of 
saving  Jesus  :  he  was  still  secretly  adhering  to  the 
proposal  he  had  made,  to  chastise  Him  and  then  let 


I02  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Him  go.  Perhaps,  if  he  retired  into  the  palace 
while  the  scourging  was  taking  place,  his  wife  may 
have  urged  him  to  make  a  further  effort  on  behalf 
of  that  Just  Man. 

At  all  events  he  came  out  on  the  platform,  round 
which  the  Jews  were  still  standing,  and  informed 
them  that  the  case  was  not  finished  ;  and,  as  Jesus, 
whose  scourging  was  now  over,  came  forward,  he 
turned  round  and,  pointing  to  Him,  exclaimed  with 
deep  emotion,  "  Behold  the  Man." 

It  was  an  involuntar}^  expression  of  commisera- 
tion,* an  appeal  to  the  Jews  to  recognize  the  unrea- 
sonableness of  proceeding  further  :  Jesus  was  so 
obviously  not  such  an  one  as  they  had  tried  to  make 
Him  out  to  be  :  at  all  events  He  had  suffered 
enough. 

But  the  Christian  mind  has  in  all  ages  felt  in 
these  words  a  sense  deeper  than  Pilate  intended. 
As  Caiaphas  was  uttering  a  greater  truth  than  he 
knew  when  he  said  it  was  expedient  that  one  should 

*  Perhaps  also  of  admiration.  Pilate  had  never  before  seen 
so  impressive  a  specimen  of  humanity  ;  and  the  contrast  between 
the  sweetness  and  majesty  of  His  appearance  and  the  indignities 
which  He  had  suffered  drew  from  him  this  involuntary  exclama- 
tion.    One  recalls  Shakespeare's  words  about  Brutus  : 

"  His  life  was  gentle,  and  the  elements 

So  mixed  in  him,  that  nature  might  stand  up 
And  sav  to  all  the  world,  This  was  a  Man  !" 


THE    SHIPWRECK  OF  PILATE  103 

die  for  the  whole  people,  so  in  uttering  this  exclama- 
tion the  governor  was  an  unconscious  prophet. 
Preachers  in  every  subsequent  age  have  adopted 
his  words  and,  pointing  to  Jesus,  ciied,  "  Behold 
the  Man  !"  Painters  have  chosen  this  moment, 
when  Jesus  came  forth,  bleeding  from  the  cruel 
stripes  and  wearing  the  purple  robe  and  crown  of 
thorns,  as  the  one  in  which  to  portray  the  Man  of 
Sorrows  ;  and  many  a  priceless  canvas  beais  the 
title  Ecce  Homo. 

From  Pilate's  lips  there  fell  two  words  which  the 
world  will  never  forget — the  question,  "  What  is 
truth  ?"  and  this  exclamation,  "  Behold  the  Man  !" 
And  the  one  may  be  taken  as  the  answer  to  the 
other.  When  the  question,  "  What  is  truth  ?"  is 
put  with  deep  earnestness,  what  does  it  mean  but 
this  ? — Who  will  make  God  known  to  us  ?  who  will 
clear  up  the  mystery  of  existence  ?  who  will  reveal 
to  man  his  own  destiny  ?  And  to  these  questions 
is  there  any  answer  but  this  :  "  Behold  the  Man"  ? 
He  has  shown  to  the  sons  of  men  what  they  ought 
to  be  ;  His  is  the  perfect  life,  after  which  every  hu- 
man life  ought  to  be  fashioned  ;  He  has  opened  the 
gates  of  immortality  and  revealed  the  secrets  of  the 
other  world.  And,  what  is  far  more  important,  He 
has  not  only  shown  us  what  our  life  here  and  here- 
after ought   to  be,  but  how  the  ideal   may  be   real- 


I04  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

ised.  He  is  not  only  the  image  of  perfection  but 
the  Saviour  from  sin.  Therefore  ought  the  world 
to  turn  to  Him  and  **  behold  the  Man." 


II. 


Pilate  hoped  that  the  sight  of  the  sufferings  of 
Jesus  would  move  the  hard  hearts  of  His  perse- 
cutors, as  it  had  moved  his  own.  But  the  only  re- 
sponse to  his  appeal  was,  "  Crucify  Him,  crucify 
Him."  It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  these  cruel 
words  now  came  from  "  the  chief  priests  and  offi- 
cers." Apparently  the  common  people  were  moved  : 
they  might  have  yielded,  if  their  superiors  had  al- 
lowed them.  But  nothing  could  move  those  hard 
hearts  ;  indeed,  the  sight  of  blood  only  inflamed 
them  the  more  ;  and  they  felt  certain  that  by  sheer 
persistence  they  could  break  down  Pilate's  opposi- 
tion. 

He  was  at  his  wits'  end  and  replied  to  them 
angrily,  "  Take  ye  Him  and  crucify  Him  ;  for  I  find 
no  fault  in  Him"  ;  meaning  probably,  that  he  was 
willing  to  yield  the  Prisoner  up  to  their  will,  if  they 
would  take  the  responsibility  of  executing  Him  ;  if, 
indeed,  he  had  in  his  mind  any  clear  meaning  and 
was  not  merely  uttering  an  exclamation  of  annoy- 
ance. 


THE    SHIPWRECK  OF  PILATE  105 

They  perceived  that  the  critical  moment  had  ar- 
rived, and  at  last  they  let  out  the  true  reason  for 
which  they  desired  His  death  :  "  We  have  a  law, 
and  by  our  law  He  ought  to  die,  because  He  made 
Himself  the  Son  of  God." 

This  was  the  ground  on  which  they  had  con- 
demned Him  themselves,  though  up  to  this  point 
they  had  kept  it  concealed.  They  had  not  men- 
tioned it,  because  they  thought  that  Pilate  would 
jeer  at  it.  It  had  on  him,  however,  a  very  different 
effect.  All  the  morning  he  had  been  feeling  un- 
easy ;  and  the  more  he  saw  of  Jesus  the  more  he 
disliked  the  part  he  was  playing.  But  now  at 
length  the  mention  of  His  claim  to  be  the  Son  of 
God  caused  his  fears  to  take  a  definite  and  alarming 
shape.  It  revived  in  his  mind  the  stories,  with 
which  his  own  pagan  religion  was  rife,  of  gods  or 
sons  of  the  gods  who  had  sometimes  appeared  on 
earth  in  disguise.  It  was  dangerous  to  have  to  do 
with  them  ;  for  any  injury  inflicted  on  them,  even 
unconsciously,  might  be  terribly  avenged.  He  had 
discerned  in  Jesus  something  mysterious  and  inex- 
plicable :  what  if  He  were  the  son  of  Jehovah,  the 
native  deity  of  Palestine,  as  Castor  and  Pollux 
were  sons  of  Jupiter  ?  and  might  not  Jehovah,  if  He 
Were  injured,  blast  the  man  who  wronged  Him  with 
a  curse  ?     Such  was  the  terror  that  flashed  through 


io6  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

his  mind  ;  and,  taking  Jesus  once  more  inside  the 
palace,  he  asked  Him,  with  a  mixture  of  awe  and 
curiosity,  "  Whence  art  Thou  ?" 

Jesus  gave  him  no  answer,  but  again  retired  into 
the  majestic  silence  which  at  three  points  already 
had  marked  His  trial.  In  the  whole  conduct  of  the 
Saviour  in  His  sufferings  there  is  nothing  more  sub- 
lime than  these  pauses  ;  but  it  is  not  easy  at  every 
point  to  gauge  the  state  of  mind  to  which  they  were 
due.  Why  was  Jesus  silent  at  this  point  ?  Some 
have  said,  because  it  was  impossible  to  answer  the 
question.  He  could  not  have  said  either  Yes  or 
No  ;  for,  if  He  had  said  that  God  was  His  Father, 
Pilate  would  have  understood  the  statement  in  a 
grossly  pagan  sense  ;  and  yet,  to  avoid  this,  He 
could  not  say  that  He  was  not  the  Son  of  God.  So 
it  was  best  to  say  nothing. 

The  true  explanation,  however,  is  simpler.  Jesus 
would  say  nothing  about  whether  He  was  the  Son 
of  God  or  not,  because  He  did  not  wish  to  be  re- 
leased on  this  ground.  Not  as  a  son  of  God,  but  as 
an  innocent  man,  which  Pilate  had  again  and  again 
acknowledged  Him  to  be,  was  He  entitled  to  be  set 
free  ;  and  His  silence  called  upon  Pilate  to  act  on 
this  acknowledgment. 

The  judge  was  more  than  ever  astonished  ;  and  he 
was  irritated  a  little  at  being  thus  treated.     "  Speak- 


THE    SHIPWRECK   OF  PILATE  107 

est  Thou  not  unto  me  ?"  he  asked,  flushing  ; 
**  knowest  Thou  not  that  I  have  power  to  crucify 
Thee  and  have  power  to  release  Thee  ?"  Poor 
man  !  it  was  to  be  seen  before  many  minutes  had 
passed  how  much  power  he  had.  And  what  was  this 
power  of  which  he  boasted  ?  He  spoke  as  if  he  had 
arbitrary  discretion  to  do  whatever  he  pleased.  No 
just  judge  would  make  such  a  claim  :  justice  takes 
from  him  the  power  to  follow  his  own  inclination  if 
it  be  unjust.  It  was  of  this  Jesus  reminded  him 
when  He  now  answered  with  quiet  dignity,  "  Thou 
couldest  have  no  power  at  all  against  Me,  unless  it 
were  given  thee  from  above."  *  He  reminds  him 
that  the  power  he  wields  is  delegated  by  Heaven, 
and  therefore  not  to  be  used  according  to  his  own 
caprice,  but  according  to  the  dictates  of  justice. 
Yet  He  added,  "  Therefore  he  that  delivered  Me 
unto  thee  hath  the  greater  sin."  He  acknowledged 
that  Pilate  was  in  a  position  in  which  he  was  com- 
pelled to  try  the  case  :  he  had  not  taken  it  up  at  his 
own  hand,  as  the  Jewish  authorities  had  done. 

Thus  Jesus  recognised  all  the  difficulties  of  His 
judge's  position  and  was  willing  to  make  for  him 
every  allowance.      This  was  He  whom  Pilate  had,  a 


*  We  are  much  tempted  on  account  of  the  "therefore"  to  ex- 
plain "from  above"  as  referring  to  the  Jewish  tribunal. 


lo8  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

few  minutes  before,  given  over  to  torture.  Was 
there  ever  such  sublime  and  unselfish  clemency  ? 
Could  there  have  been  a  more  complete  triumph 
over  resentment  and  irritation  ?  If  the  silence  of 
Christ  was  sublime,  no  less  sublime,  when  He  did 
speak,  were  His  words. 

III. 

Pilate  felt  the  greatness  and  the  magnanimity  of 
his  Prisoner,  and  came  forth  determined  at  all  haz- 
ards to  set  Him  free.  The  Jews  saw  it  in  his  face. 
And  at  length  they  brought  out  their  last  weapon, 
which  they  had  been  keeping  in  reserve  and  Pilate 
had  been  fearing  all  the  time  :  they  threatened  to 
complain  against  him  to  the  emperor  ;  for  this  was 
the  meaning  of  what  they  now  cried  :  "  If  thou  let 
this  man  go,  thou  art  not  Caesar's  friend  :  whoso- 
ever maketh  himself  a  king  speaketh  against 
Caesar." 

There  was  nothing  which  a  Roman  provincial 
governor  so  much  dreaded  as  a  complaint  lodged 
against  him  at  Rome.  And  in  Pilate's  case  such  an 
accusation,  for  more  reasons  than  one,  would  have 
been  specially  perilous.  The  imperial  throne  was 
occupied  at  the  time  by  one  who  was  a  most  suspi- 
cious master.  Tiberius  seemed  to  delight  in  humili- 
ating and  disgracing  his  subordinates.     Besides,  at 


THE    SHIPWRECK  OF  PILATE  109 

this  very  period  he  was  peculiarly  dangerous.  A 
diseased  body,  the  punishment  of  vices  long  in- 
dulged, had  made  his  mind  gloomy  and  savage  ;  in 
fact,  he  was  little  better  than  a  madman — morose, 
suspicious  and  malicious.  Nor  was  any  charge  so 
likely  to  inflame  him  as  the  one  which  they  pro- 
posed to  lay  against  Pilate.  It  was  well  known  at 
Rome  that  the  hope  of  a  Messiah  was  spread 
throughout  the  East  ;  and  any  provincial  governor 
supposed  to  be  favouring  or  even  conniving  at  the 
claims  of  such  a  pretender  would  certainly  be  re- 
called, probably  exiled,  and  possibly  executed. 
Amicus  CcEsaris^  "  Caesar's  friend,"  was  one  of  the 
most  coveted  titles  of  a  man  in  Pilate's  position  ; 
and  to  be  accused  of  acting  as  no  friend  of  Caesar's 
could  act  was  the  most  serious  of  all  dangers. 

But  there  was  something  else  which  lent  point  to 
the  threat  of  the  Jewish  authorities  :  Pilate  well 
knew  that  his  administration  could  not  bear  the 
light  of  an  investigation  such  as  would  inevitably 
follow  a  complaint  from  his  subjects.  It  is  a  curi- 
ous thing  that  in  a  secular  writer  of  that  age  we  find 
an  account  of  another  occasion  on  which  this  same 
threat  was  held  over  Pilate  ;  and  the  writer  wdio 
mentions  it  adds  :  "  He  was  afraid  that  if  a  Jewish 
embassy  w^ere  sent  to  Rome,  they  might  discuss  the 
many  maladministrations  of  his  government,  his  ex- 


no  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

tortions,  his  unjust  decrees,  his  inhuman  punish- 
ments." *  Such  had  been  the  character  of  Pilate's 
past  life  ;  and  now,  when-  he  was  going  to  do  a 
humane  and  righteous  act,  it  stayed  his  hand. 
There  is  nothing  which  so  frustrates  good  resolu- 
tions and  paralyzes  noble  efforts  as  the  dead  weight 
of  past  sins.  Those  who  are  acquainted  with  secret 
and  discreditable  chapters  of  a  man's  history  are 
able,  wielding  this  knowledge  over  his  head,  to  say, 
Thou  shalt  not  do  this  good  act  which  thou  wishest 
to  do,  or,  Thou  shalt  do  this  evil  and  shameful 
thing  which  we  bid  thee.  There  are  companies  in 
which  men  cannot  utter  the  fine,  high-sounding 
things  they  would  say  elsewhere,  because  there  are 
present  those  who  know  how  their  lives  have  contra- 
dicted them.  What  is  it  that  mocks  the  generous 
thought  rising  in  our  minds,  that  silences  the  noble 
word  on  our  lips,  that  paralyzes  the  forming  energy 
of  our  actions  ?  Is  it  not  the  internal  whisper.  Re- 
member how  you  have  failed  before  ?  This  is  the  curse 
of  past  sin  :  it  will  not  let  us  do  the  good  we  would. 
But,  if  a  man  has  thus  com.mitted  himself  by  an 
evil  past,  what  is  he  to  do  ?  What  ought  Pilate  to 
have  done  ?  There  is  only  one  course.  It  is  to 
summon   together    the   resources    of    his    manhood, 

*  Philo. 


THE    SHIPWRECK  OF  PILATE  m 

defy  consequences,  and  do  the  right  forthwith, 
come  what  may.  One  step  taken  in  loyalty  to  con- 
science, one  word  of  confession  spoken,  and  in  a 
moment  the  power  of  the  tyranny  is  broken,  and 
the  spellbound  man  is  free  to  issue  forth  from  the 
inglorious  prison  of  the  past. 

Alas,  Pilate  was  not  equal  to  any  such  effort. 
For  the  sake  of  righteousness,  for  the  sake  of  this 
impressive  and  innocent  but  obscure  and  friendless 
Galilean,  to  face  a  complaint  at  Rome  and  run  the 
risk  of  exile  and  poverty — the  man  of  the  world's 
philosophy  could  not  rise  to  any  such  height.  He 
belonged  to  the  world,  whose  fashion  and  favour, 
pleasures  and  comforts  were  the  breath  of  his  nos- 
trils ;  and,  when  he  heard  the  menace  of  his  sub- 
jects, he  surrendered  at  discretion. 

Thus  Jewish  passion  and  persistency  triumphed. 
Pilate  resisted,  but  he  w^as  forced  to  yield  inch  by 
inch.  He  wished  to  do  right  ;  he  felt  the  spell  of 
Jesus  ;  and  it  irritated  him  to  have  to  go  against 
his  conscience,  but  his  subjects  compelled  him  to 
obey  their  wicked  will.  Yet  the  true  reason  of  his 
failure  was  in  himself — in  the  shallowness  and  world- 
liness  of  his  own  character,  which  this  occasion  laid 
bare  to  the  very  foundations.* 

*  It  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  irony  of  history  that  Pilate 


112   THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

IV. 

There  was  little  more  to  do.  The  mind  of  Pilate 
was  very  savage  and  his  heart  very  sore.  He  had 
been  beaten  and  humiliated  ;  and  he  would  gladly 
inflict  some  humiliation  on  his  opponents,  if  he  could 
find  a  way.  He  ascended  the  judgment-seat,  "  in  a 
place  that  is  called  the  Pavement,  but  in  the  He- 
brew Gabbatha" — an  act  similar  in  significance,  I 
suppose,  with  our  judges'  habit,  before  pronouncing 
a  death  sentence,  of  putting  on  the  black  cap. 
Pointing  to  Jesus,  he  exclaimed,  "  Behold  your 
King  !"  It  was  as  much  as  to  say  that  he  believed 
this  really  to  be  their  Messiah — this  poor,  bleeding, 
mishandled  Man.  He  was  trying  to  cut  them  with 
a  taunt.  And  he  succeeded  :  smarting  with  pam 
they  shouted,  "  Away  with  Him  !  away  with  Him  I 
crucify  Him!"  "  What,"  he  proceeded,  "shall  I 
crucify  your  King?"     And,  borne  away  with  fury, 

was  overtaken  by  the  very  fate  to  escape  which  he  abandoned 
Jesus.  Soon  after  the  Crucifixion  his  subjects  lodged  a  complaint 
against  him  at  Rome.  He  was  recalled  from  his  province  and 
never  returned.  Ultimately,  it  is  said,  he  terminated  his  exist- 
ence with  his  own  hand,  "  wearied  out  with  miseries."  Many 
legends  in  subsequent  centuries  clustered  about  his  name. 
Several  spots  were  supposed  to  be  haunted  by  his  restless  and 
despairing  spirit,  notably  a  spring  in  Switzerland  on  the  top  of 
Mount  Pilatus,  which  was  thought  to  have  derived  its  name  from 
him  ;  but  this  is  more  than  doubtldl. 


THE    SHIPWRECK  OF  PILATE  113 

they  responded,  "  We  have  no  king  but  Caesar." 
What  a  word  to  come  from  the  representatives  of  a 
nation  to  which  pertained  "  the  adoption  and  the 
glory  and  the  covenants  and  the  giving  of  the  law 
and  the  service  of  God  and  the  promises  !"  It  was 
the  renouncement  of  their  birthright,  the  abandon- 
ment of  their  destiny.  Pilate  well  knew  what  it 
had  cost  their  proud  hearts  thus  to  forswear  the 
hopes  of  their  fathers  and  acknowledge  the  right  of 
their  conqueror  ;  but  to  compel  them  to  swallow 
this  bitter  draught  was  some  compensation  for  the 
cup  of  humiliation  they  had  compelled  him  to  drink. 
And  he  took  them  at  their  word. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

JUDAS     ISCARIOT 

TO  the  civil  trial  of  our  Lord  there  is  a  sad  ap- 
pendix, as  we  have  already  had  one  to  the 
ecclesiastical  trial.  Christ's  great  confession  in  the 
palace  of  the  high  priest  was  accompanied  by  the 
great  denial  of  Peter  outside  ;  and  the  proceedings 
in  the  court  of  Pontius  Pilate  were  accompanied  by 
the  final  act  of  the  treachery  of  Judas.  Only  in  the 
latter  case  we  are  not  able  with  the  same  accuracy 
to  fix  the  circumstances  of  time  and  place. 


I. 


Judas  is  one  of  the  darkest  riddles  of  human  his- 
tory. In  the  Vision  of  Hell  the  poet  Dante,  after 
traversing  the  circles  of  the  universe  of  woe,  in 
which  each  separate  kind  of  wickedness  receives 
its  peculiar  punishment,  arrives  at  last,  in  the 
company  of  his  guide,  at  the  nethermost  circle 
of  all,  in  the  very  bottom  of  the  pit,  where  the 
worst    of    all    sinners    and    the    basest    of    all    sins 


JUDAS  I  SCAR  10  T  115 

are  undergoing  retribution.  It  is  a  lake  not  of 
fire  but  of  ice,  beneath  whose  transparent  surface 
are  visible,  fixed  in  painful  postures,  the  figures 
of  those  who  have  betrayed  their  benefactors  ; 
because  this,  in  Dante's  estimation,  is  the  worst  of 
sins.  In  the  midst  of  them  stands  out,  vast  and 
hideous,  "  the  emperor  who  sways  the  realm  of 
woe" — Satan  himself  ;  for  this  was  the  crime  which 
lost  him  Paradise.  And  the  next  most  conspicuous 
figure  is  Judas  Iscariot.  He  is  in  the  mouth  of 
Satan,  being  champed  and  torn  by  his  teeth  as  in  a 
ponderous  engine. 

Such  was  the  mediaeval  view  of  this  man  and  his 
crime.  But  in  modern  times  opinion  has  swung 
round  to  the  opposite  extreme.  Ours  is  an  age  of 
toleration,  and  one  of  its  favourite  occupations  is 
the  rehabilitation  of  evil  reputations.  Men  and 
women  who  have  stood  for  centuries  in  the  pillory 
of  history  are  being  taken  down  ;  their  cases  are  re- 
tried ;  and  they  are  set  up  on  pedestals  of  admira- 
tion. Sometimes  this  is  done  with  justice,  but  i^ 
other  cases  it  has  been  carried  to  absurdity.  No- 
body, it  would  appear,  has  ever  been  very  bad  ;  the 
criminals  and  scoundrels  have  been  men  whose  mo- 
tives have  been  misunderstood.  Among  those  on 
whose  behalf  the  attempt  has  thus  been  made  to  re- 
verse the  verdict  of  history  is  Judas  Iscariot.      Eigh- 


ii6  THE    TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

teen  centuries  had  agreed  to  regard  him  as  the 
meanest  of  mankind,  but  in  our  century  he  has  been 
transmuted  into  a  kind  of  hero.  The  theory  is  of 
German  origin  ;  but  it  was  presented  to  the  English 
public  by  De  Quincey,  who  adorned  it  with  all  the 
persuasiveness  of  his  meretricious  genius. 

It  is  held  that  the  motive  of  Judas  was  totally  dif- 
ferent from  the  one  hitherto  supposed  :  it  was  not 
filthy  lucre.  The  smallness  of  the  price  for  which 
he  sold  his  Master — it  was  less  than  four  pounds  of 
our  money,  though  the  value  of  this  sum  was  much 
greater  then — proves  that  there  must  have  been  an- 
other motive.  The  traditional  conception  is  incon- 
sistent with  Christ's  choice  of  him  to  be  a  disciple  ; 
and  it  is  irreconcilable  with  the  tragic  greatness  of 
his  repentance.  His  view  of  Christ's  enterprise  was 
no  doubt  of  a  material  cast  :  he  expected  Christ  to 
be  a  king,  and  hoped  to  hold  a  high  place  in  His 
court  :  but  these  ideas  were  common  to  all  the  dis- 
ciples, who  to  the  very  end  were  waiting  to  see  their 
Master  throw  off  the  cloak  of  His  humble  condition 
and  take  to  Himself  His  great  power  and  reign  ; 
only  they  left  the  time  and  the  means  in  their  Mas- 
ter's hands,  not  venturing  to  criticise  His  proceed- 
ings. Judas  was  not  so  patient.  He  was  a  man  of 
energy  and  practicality,  and  he  allowed  himself  to 
believe  that  he  had  discerned  a  defect  in  the  char- 


JUDAS  ISC  A  RIOT  117 

acter  of  his  Master.  Jesus  was  too  spiritual  and  un- 
worldly for  the  enterprise  on  which  he  had  em- 
barked— too  much  occupied  with  healing,  preaching 
and  speculating.  These  would  be  well  enough 
w^hen  once  the  kingdom  was  established  ;  but  He 
was  losing  His  opportunities.  His  delay  had 
turned  against  Him  the  authoritative  classes.  One 
vast  force,  indeed,  was  still  on  His  side — the  en- 
thusiasm of  the  populace — but  even  of  it  He  was 
not  taking  advantage.  When,  on  Palm  Sunday,  He 
was  borne  into  the  capital  by  a  crowd  throbbing 
with  Messianic  expectation,  He  seemed  to  have  in 
His  hand  what  Judas  supposed  to  be  the  object  of 
His  life  ;  but  He  did  nothing,  and  the  crowd  dis- 
persed, disappointed  and  disheartened.  What  Jesus 
required  was  to  be  precipitated  into  a  situation 
where  He  would  be  compelled  to  act.  He  lacked 
energy  and  decision  ;  but,  if  He  were  delivered  into 
the  hands  of  the  authorities,  who  were  known  to  be 
seeking  His  life.  He  could  hesitate  no  longer. 
When  they  laid  hands  on  Him,  He  would  of  course 
liberate  Himself  from  them,  and  His  miraculous 
power  would  exhibit  itself  in  forms  so  irresisti- 
ble as  to  awaken  universal  enthusiasm.  Thus 
would  His  kingdom  be  set  up  in  magnificence  ; 
and  the  man  whom  the  king  would  delight  to 
honour  would    surely    be    the  humble   follower   by 


Il8  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

whose  shrewdness  and  audacity  the  crisis  had  been 
brought  about. 

II. 

Even  if  this  were  the  true  history  of  Judas,  his 
conduct  would  not,  perhaps,  be  as  innocent  as  it 
looks.  In  the  course  of  His  life  our  Lord  had  fre- 
quently to  deal  with  persons  who  attempted,  from 
what  appeared  to  themselves  to  be  good  motives,  to 
interfere  with  His  plans — to  precipitate  Him  into 
action  before  His  time  or  to  restrain  Him  when  His 
time  had  come — and  He  always  resented  such  inter- 
ference with  indignation.  Even  His  own  mother 
was  not  spared  when  she  played  this  part.  To  do 
God's  will  exactly,  neither  more  nor  less,  neither 
anticipating  it  nor  lagging  behind  it,  was  the  inner- 
most principle  of  the  life  of  Jesus  ;  and  He  treated 
any  interference  with  it  as  a  suggestion  of  the  Evil 
One. 

Still  the  theory  will  not  hold  water.  The  Scrip- 
tures know  nothing  of  it,  and  it  is  inconsistent  with 
the  tone  of  moral  repulsion  in  which  they  speak  of 
Judas.  Besides,  they  assign  a  totally  different  mo- 
tive. They  affirm  that  Judas  was  a  thief  and  stole 
out  of  the  bag  from  which  Jesus  gave  to  the  poor 
and  supplied  His  own  wants — a  sacrilege  which 
most   thieves   would   have   scorned.     It   is  in  entire 


JUDAS  ISCARIOT.  119 

accordance  with  this  that  the  word  with  which  he 
approached  the  Sanhedrim  was,  "  How  much  will 
ye  give  me  ?"  That  he  was  willing  to  accept  so  lit- 
tle proves  how  strong  his  passion  was. 

It  is  altogether  impossible  that  a  character  of  this 
kind  can  have  been  combined  with  the  generous 
although  mistaken  enthusiasm  which  the  theory  at- 
tributes to  him,*  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  pas- 
sion of  avarice  may  easily  have  been  nourished  by 
brooding  with  disappointment  on  Messianic  visions  ; 
and  the  theory  of  De  Quincey  may  supply  impor- 
tant hints  for  unravelling  the  mystery  of  his  career. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  at  one  time  the  life  of 
Judas  seemed  full  of  promise.  Jesus,  who  was  so 
strict  about  permitting  any  to  follow  Him,  would 
not  have  chosen  him  into  the  apostolic  circle  unless 
he  had  exhibited  enthusiasm  for  His  person  and  His 
cause.  He  well  knew,  indeed,  that  in  his  motives 
there  was  a  selfish  alloy  ;  but  this  was  the  case  with 
all  His  followers  ;  and  fellowship  with  Himself  was  j^ 
the  fire  in  which  the  alloy  was  to  be  purged  out. 

In  the   other  apostles   this  process  actually  took 
place  :  they   were   refined   by  fellowship  with   Him.  ^ 
Their  worldliness,   indeed,  remained   to  the   end   of 

*  Hanna,  in  The  Last  Day  of  Our  Lord's  Passion,  attempts  to 
combine  both  motives,  but  without  being  able  really  to  unite 
them  ;  they  remain  as  distinct  as  oil  and  water. 


I20  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

His  earthly  career,  but  it  was  growing  less  and  less  ; 
and  other  ties,  stronger  than  their  hopes  of  earthly- 
glory,  were  slowly  but  surely  binding  them  indis- 
solubly  to  His  cause.  In  Judas,  on  the  contrary, 
the  reverse  process  took  place  :  what  was  good  in 
him  grew  less  and  less,  and  at  last  the  sole  bond 
which  held  him  to  Christ  was  what  he  could  make 
out  of  the  connection. 

When  the  suspicion  first  dawned  on  him  that  the 
hope  of  a  Messianic  kingdom  was  not  to  be  fulfilled, 
the  inner  man  of  Judas  underwent  a  critical  change. 
This  happened  a  year  before  the  end,  on  the  occa- 
sion when  Christ  resisted  the  attempt  of  His  follow- 
ers to  take  Him  by  force  and  make  Him  a  king,  and 
when  many  of  His  disciples  went  back  and  walked 
no  more  with  Him.  At  that  time  Jesus  warned 
Judas  against  the  evil  spirit  which  he  was  allowing 
to  take  possession  of  his  mind  by  the  strong  saying, 
"  Have  I  not  chosen  you  twelve  ?  and  one  of  you  is 
a  devil."  But  the  disciple  did  not  heed  the  warn- 
ing. Perhaps  it  was  at  this  stage  that  he  com- 
menced to  steal  from  the  bag  which  he  carried. 
He  felt  that  he  must  have  some  tangible  reward  for 
following  Christ,  and  he  justified  his  peculation  by 
saying  to  himself  that  what  he  was  taking  was  in- 
finitely less  than  he  had  been  led  to  expect.  He 
regarded  himself  as  an  ill-used  man. 


JUDAS  ISCARIOT  I2I 

Under  the  practice  of  this  secret  sin  his  character 
could  not  but  rapidly  deteriorate.  Jesus  dropped  a 
word  of  warning  now  and  then  ;  but  it  had  the  re- 
verse of  the  desired  effect.  Judas  knew  that  Jesus 
knew  ;  and  he  grew  to  hate  Him.  This  was  by  far 
the  worst  aspect  of  the  case.  The  other  disciples 
were  becoming  more  and  more  attached  to  their 
Master,  because  they  felt  increasingly  how  much 
they  owed  Him  ;  but  Judas  did  not  feel  that  he 
owed  Him  anything  :  on  the  contrary,  his  feeling 
was  that  he  had  been  betrayed.  Why  should  he 
not  betray  in  turn  ?  There  may  even  have  been  an 
element  of  scorn  in  selling  Christ  for  so  little. 

More  than  one  of  the  Evangelists  seem  to  connect 
the  treachery  of  Judas  directly  with  the  scene  at 
Bethany  in  which  Mary  anointed  Jesus  with  costly 
ointment.  Apparently  this  beautiful  act  brought 
all  the  evil  in  his  heart  to  such  a  head  that  an  out-^ 
break  could  no  longer  be  deferred.  His  spite  found 
vent  in  the  angry  contention  that  the  money  ought 
to  have  been  given  to  the  poor.  It  was  a  large  sum, 
off  which  he  could  have  taken  an  unusually  large 
slice  of  booty.  But  probably  there  was  more  in  the  1 
occasion  to  incense  Judas.  To  him  this  feasting 
and  anointing,  at  the  moment  when  the  crisis  of 
Christ's  fortunes  had  obviously  come,  appeared 
sheer  folly  ;  as  a  practical  man   he  despised  it.     It 


122  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

was  manifest  that  the  game  was  up  ;  a  leader  loiter- 
ing and  dreaming  in  this  fashion  at  the  crisis  of  his 
fate  was  doomed.  It  was  time  to  get  out  of  the 
ship,  for  it  was  clearly  sinking  ;  but  he  would  do  so 
in  such  a  way  as  to  gratify  his  resentment,  his  scorn 
and  his  love  of  money  all  at  once. 

Thus  the  master-passion  of  Judas  was  nourished 
from  potent  springs.  But,  indeed,  avarice  in  itself 
is  one  of  the  most  powerful  of  motives.  In  the 
teaching  of  the  pulpit  it  may  seldom  be  noticed,  but 
both  in  Scripture  and  in  history  it  occupies  a  promi- 
nent place.  It  is  questionable  if  anything  else 
makes  so  many  ill  deeds  to  be  dene.  Avarice 
breaks  all  the  commandments.  Often  has  it  put 
the  weapon  into  the  hand  of  the  murderer  ;  in  most 
countries  of  the  world  it  has  in  every  age  made  the 
ordinary  business  of  the  market-place  a  warfare  of 
falsehood  ;  the  bodies  of  men  and  the  hearts  of 
women  have  been  sold  for  gold.  Why  is  it  that 
gigantic  wrongs  flourish  from  age  to  age,  and  prac- 
tices utterly  indefensible  are  continued  with  the 
overwhelming  sanction  of  society  ?  It  is  because 
there  is  money  in  them.  Avarice  is  a  passion  of 
demonic  strength  ;  but  it  may  help  us  to  keep  it  out 
of  our  hearts  to  remember  that  it  was  the  sin  of 
Judas. 


JUDAS  ISCARIOT  123 

III. 

The  repentance  of  Judas  is  alleged  as  the  sign  of 
a  superior  spirit.  Certainly  it  is  an  indication  of 
the  goodness  which  he  once  possessed,  because  it  is 
only  by  the  light  of  a  spark  of  goodness  that  the 
darkness  of  sin  can  be  perceived  ;  and  the  more  the 
conscience  has  been  enlightened  the  severer  is  the 
reaction  when  it  is  outraged.  Those  v/ho  have  in 
any  degree  shared  the  company  of  Christ  can  never 
afterwards  be  as  if  they  had  not  enjoyed  this  privi- 
lege ;  and  religion,  if  it  does  not  save,  will  be  the 
cruellest  element  in  the  soul's  perdition. 

It  is  not  certain  at  what  point  the  reaction  in  the 
mind  of  Judas  set  in.*  There  were  many  incidents 
of  the  trial  well  calculated  to  awaken  in  him  a  re- 
vulsion of  feeling.  At  length,  however,  Ihe  retribu- 
tive powers  bf  conscience  were  thoroughly  aroused 
— those  powers  which  in  all  literature  have  formed 
the  theme  of  the  deepest  tragedy  ;  which  in  the 
Bible  are  typified  by  Cain,  escaping  as  a  fugitive 
and    a   vagabond    from    the    cry    of    his    brother's 


*  If,  as  St.  Matthew  seems  to  indicate,  Judas  disappeared 
from  the  scene  long  before  the  end  of  the  trial,  this  is  strongly 
against  the  theory  of  De  Quincey,  according  to  which  he  must 
have  stayed  to  the  last  moment,  hoping  to  see  Jesus  assert  Him- 
self. 


124  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEA  TH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

blood  ;  which  in  Greek  literature  are  shadowed 
forth  by  the  terrible  figures  of  the  Eumenides,  with 
gorgon  faces  and  blood-dropping  eyes,  following  si- 
lently but  remorselessly  those  upon  whose  track  they 
have  been  set  ;  and  which  in  Shakespeare  are  repre- 
sented in  the  soul-curdling  scenes  of  Macbeth  and 
Richard  III.  He  was  seized  with  an  uncontrollable 
desire  to  undo  what  he  had  done.  The  money,  on 
which  his  heart  had  been  set,  was  now  like  a  spec- 
tre to  his  excited  fancy.  Every  coin  seemed  to  be 
an  eye  through  which  eternal  justice  was  gazing  at 
his  crime  or  to  have  a  tongue  crying  out  for  ven- 
geance. As  the  murderer  is  irresistibly  drawn  back 
to  the  spot  where  his  victim  lies,  he  returned  to  the 
place  w^here  his  deed  of  treachery  had  been  transact- 
ed and,  confronting  those  by  whom  he  had  been 
employed,  handed  back  the  money  with  the  passion- 
ate confession,  "  I  have  betrayed  innocent  blood." 
But  he  had  come  to  miserable  comforters.  With 
cynical  disdain  they  asked,  "What  is  that  to  us? 
See  thou  to  that."  They  had  been  cordial  enough 
to  him  when  he  had  come  before,  but  now,  after  the 
instrument  has  served  their  turn,  they  fling  it  con- 
temptuously aside.  The  miserable  man  had  to  turn 
away  from  the  scorn  of  the  partners  of  his  guilt  ; 
but  he  could  keep  the  money  no  longer — it  was 
burning   in   his  hands — and,    before   escaping   from 


JUDAS  ISC  A  RIOT  125 

the  precincts,  he  flung  it  down.  This  is  said  to 
have  happened  in  that  part  of  the  temple  which 
could  be  entered  only  by  the  priests  ;  *  and  he  must 
either  have  made  a  rush  across  the  forbidden  thresh- 
old or  availed  himself  of  an  open  door  to  fling  it  in. 
Not  only  did  he  desire  to  be  rid  of  it,  but  a  passion- 
ate impulse  urged  him  to  leave  with  the  priests  their 
own  share  of  the  guilt. 

Then  he  rushed  away  from  the  temple.  But 
v/here  was  he  going  ?  Oh  that  it  had  been  in  him  J 
to  flee  to  Christ — that,  breaking  through  all  obsta- 
cles and  rules,  he  had  rushed  to  Him  wherever  He 
was  to  be  found  and  cast  himself  at  His  feet  !  What 
if  the  soldiers  had  cut  him  down  ?  Then  he  would 
have  been  the  martyr  of  penitence,  and  that  very 
day  he  would  have  been  with  Christ  in  Paradise. 
Judas  repented  of  his  sin  ;  he  confessed  it  ;  he  cast 
from  him  the  reward  of  iniquity  ;  but  his  penitence 
lacked  the  element  which  is  most  essential  of  all — 
he  did  not  turn  to  God.  True  repentance  is  not  the 
mere  horror  and  excitement  of  a  terrified  con- 
science :  it  is  the  call  of  God  ;  it  is  letting  go  the 
evil  because  the  good  has  prevailed  ;  it  includes 
faith  as  well  as  fear. 


Ev  r^  va^. 


126  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 


IV. 


The  manner  of  his  end  is  also  used  as  an  argu- 
ment in  favour  of  the  more  honourable  view  of 
Judas.  The  act  of  suicide  is  one  which  has  not  in- 
frequently been  invested  with  a  glamour  of  romance, 
and  to  go  out  of  life  the  Roman  wa}",  as  it  is  called, 
has  been  considered,  even  by  Christians,  an  evi- 
dence of  unusual  strength  of  mind.  The  very  re- 
verse is,  however,  the  true  character  of  suicide  :  ex- 
cept in  those  melancholy  cases  where  the  reason  is 
impaired,  it  must  be  pronounced  the  most  con- 
temptible act  of  which  a  human  being  is  capable. 
It  is  an  escape  from  the  burdens  and  responsibili- 
ties of  existence  ;  but  these  burdens  and  responsi- 
bilities are  left  to  be  borne  by  others,  and  along 
with  them  is  left  aa  intolerable  heritage  of  shame. 
From  a  religious  point  of  view  it  appears  in  a  still 
worse  light.  Not  only  does  the  suicide,  as  even 
heathen  writers  have  argued,  desert  the  post  of  duty 
where  Providence  has  placed  him,  but  he  virtually 
denies  the  character  and  even  the  existence  of  God. 
He  denies  His  character,  for,  if  he  believed  in  His 
mercy  and  love,  he  would  flee  to  instead  of  from 
Him  ;  and  he  denies  His  existence,  for  no  one  who 
believed  that  he  was  to  meet  God  on  the  other  side 


JUDAS  ISC  A  RIOT  127 

of  the  veil  would  dare  in  this  disorderly  way  to  rush 
into  His  presence. 

The  mode  of  Judas'  suicide  was  characteristically 
base.  Hanging  does  not  appear  to  have  been  at  all 
usual  among  the  Jews.  In  the  entire  Old  Testa- 
ment there  is  said  to  occur  only  a  single  case  ;  and, 
strange  to  say,  it  is  that  of  the  man  who,  in  the 
principal  act  of  his  life  also,  was  the  prototype  of 
Judas.  Ahithophel,  the  counsellor  and  friend  of 
David,  betrayed  his  master,  as  Judas  betrayed 
Christ  ;  and  he  came  to  the  same  ignominious  end. 

It  would  seem,  further,  that  the  hanging  of  Judas 
was  accompanied  with  circumstances  of  unusual 
horror.  This  we  gather  from  the  account  in  the  be- 
ginning of  Acts.*  The  terms  employed  are  ob- 
scure ;  but  they  probably  signify  that  the  suicidal 
act  was  attended  by  a  clumsy  accident,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  the  body,  being  suspended  over  a 
precipice  and  suddenly  dropped  by  the  snapping  of 
the  rope,  was  mangled  in  a  shocking  manner,  which 
made  a  profound  impression  on  all  who  heard  of  it.f 

And  this  sense  of  his  end  being  accursed  was  fur- 


^  St.  Matthew  knows  best  the  beginning,  St.  Luke  the  end  of 
the  story. 

f  De  Quincey's  interpretation  of  the  words  as  a  description  of 
mental  anguish  must  be  felt  by  every  reader  of  the  brilliant  essay 
to  be  forced  and  unnatural. 


128  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

ther  accentuated  in  the  minds  of  the  early  Christians 
by  the  circumstance  that  the  money  for  which  he 
had  sold  Christ  was  eventually  used  for  the  pur- 
chase of  a  grave3"ard  for  burying  strangers  in.  The 
priests,  though  they  picked  up  the  coins  from  the 
floor  over  which  Judas  had  strewn  them,  did  not, 
scrupulous  men,  consider  them  good  enough  to  be 
put  in  the  sacred  treasury  ;  so  they  applied  them  to 
this  purpose.  The  public  wit,  hearing  of  it,  dubbed 
the  place  the  Field  of  Blood  ;  and  thus  the  cemetery 
became  a  kind  of  monument  to  the  traitor,  of  which 
he  took  possession  as  the  first  of  the  outcasts  for 
whom  it  was  designed. 

The  world  has  agreed  to  regard  Judas  as  the  chief 
J  of  sinners  ;  but,  in  so  judging,  it  has  exceeded  its 
prerogative.  Man  is  not  competent  to  judge  his 
brother.  The  master-passion  of  Judas  was  a  base 
one  ;  Dante  may  be  right  in  considering  treachery 
the  worst  of  crimes  ;  and  the  supreme  excellence  of 
Christ  affixes  an  unparalleled  stigma  to  the  injury 
inflicted  on  Him.  But  the  motives  of  action  are 
too  hidden,  and  the  history  of  every  deed  is  too 
complicated,  to  justify  us  in  saying  who  is  the  worst 
of  men.  It  is  not  at  all  likely  that  those  whom 
human  opinion  would  rank  highest  in  merit  or 
saintliness  will  be  assigned  the  same  positions  in  the 


JUDAS  I  SCAR  10  T  I  29 

rewards  of  the  last  day  ;  and  it  is  just  as  unlikely 
that  human  estimates  are  right  when  they  venture 
to  assign  the  degrees  of  final  condemnation.  Two 
things  it  is  our  duty  to  do  in  regard  to  Judas  :  first, 
not  so  to  palliate  his  sin  as  to  blunt  the  healthy, 
natural  abhorrence  of  it  ;  and,  secondly,  not  to 
think  of  him  as  a  sinner  apart  and  alone,  with  a 
nature  so  different  from  our  own  that  to  us  he  can 
be  no  example.  But  for  the  rest,  there  is  only  one 
verdict  which  is  at  once  righteous,  dignified  and 
safe  ;  and  it  is  contained  in  the  declaration  of  St. 
Peter,  that  he  "  went  to  his  own  place." 


CHAPTER   X. 

VIA    DOLOROSA 

WE  have  finished  the  first  part  of  our  theme — 
the  Trial  of  Jesus — and  turn  now  to  the  sec- 
ond and  more  solemn  part  of  it — His  Death.  The 
trial  had  been  little  better  than  a  mockery  of  jus- 
tice :  on  the  part  of  the  ecclesiastical  authority  it 
was  a  foregone  conclusion,  and  on  the  part  of  the 
civil  authority  it  was  the  surrender  of  a  life  ac- 
knowledged to  be  innocent  to  the  ends  of  selfishness 
and  policy.  But  at  last  it  was  over,  and  nothing 
remained  but  to  carry  the  unjust  sentence  into  exe- 
cution. So  the  tribunal  of  Pilate  was  closed  for  the 
day  ;  the  precincts  of  the  palace  were  deserted  by 
the  multitude  ;  and  the  procession  of  death  was 
formed. 

I. 

Persons  condemned  to  death  in  modern  times  are 
allowed  a  few  weeks,  or  at  least  days,  to  prepare  for 
eternity  ;  but  Jesus  was  crucified  the  same  day  on 
which  He  was  condemned.      There  was  a  merciful 


VIA    DOLOROSA  131 


law  of  Rome  in  existence  at  the  time,  ordaining  that 
ten  days  should  intervene  between  the  passing  of  a 
capital  sentence  and  its  execution  ;  but  either  this 
was  not  intended  for  use  in  the  provinces  or  Jesus 
was  judged  to  be  outside  the  scope  of  its  mercy,  be- 
cause He  had  made  Himself  a  king.  At  all  events 
He  was  hurried  straight  from  the  judgment-seat  to 
the  place  of  execution,  without  opportunity  for 
preparation  or  farewells. 

Of  course  the  sentence  was  carried  out  by  the  sol- 
diers of  Pilate.  St.  John,  indeed,  speaks  as  if  Pilate 
had  simply  surrendered  Him  into  the  hands  of  the 
Jews,  and  they  had  seen  to  the  execution.  But  this 
only  means  that  the  moral  responsibility  was  theirs. 
They  did  everything  in  their  power  to  identify  them- 
selves with  the  deed.  So  intent  were  they  on  the 
death  of  Jesus,  that  they  could  not  leave  the  work 
to  the  proper  parties,  but  followed  the  executioners 
and  superintended  their  operations.  The  actual 
work,  however,  was  performed  by  the  hands  of 
Roman  soldiers  with  a  centurion  at  their  head. 

In  this  country  executions  are  now  carried  out  in 
private,  inside  the  walls  of  the  prison  in  which  the 
criminal  has  been  confined.  Not  many  years  ago, 
however,  they  took  place  in  public  ;  and  not  many 
generations  ago  the  procession  of  death  made  a  tour 
of  the  public  streets,  that  the  condemned  man  might 


132  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

come  under  the  observation  and  maledictions  of  as 
many  of  the  public  as  possible.  This  also  was  the 
manner  of  Christ's  death.  Both  among  the  Jews 
and  the  Romans  executions  took  place  outside  the 
gate  of  the  city.  The  traditional  scene  of  Christ's 
death,  over  which  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
is  built,  is  inside  the  present  walls,  but  those  who 
believe  in  its  authenticity  maintain  that  it  was  out- 
side the  wall  of  that  date.  This,  however,  is  ex- 
tremely doubtful  ;  and,  indeed,  it  is  quite  uncertain 
outside  which  gate  of  the  city  the  execution  took 
place.  The  name  Calvary  or  Golgotha  probably 
indicates  that  the  spot  was  a  skull  like  knoll  ;  but 
there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  it  was  a  hill  of  the 
size  supposed  by  designating  it  Mount  Calvary.  In- 
deed, there  is  no  hill  near  any  gate  corresponding 
to  the  image  in  the  popular  imagination.  In  mod- 
ern Jerusalem  there  is  a  street  pointed  out  as  the 
veritable  Via  Dolorosa  along  which  the  procession 
passed  ;  but  this  also  is  more  than  doubtful.  Like 
ancient  Rome,  ancient  Jerusalem  is  buried  beneath 
the  rubbish  of  centuries.*  From  the  scene  of  the 
trial  to  the  supposed  site  of  the  execution  is  nearly 
a  raile.  And  it  is  quite  possible  that  Jesus  may 
have  had  to  travel  as  far  or  farther,  while  an  ever- 

*  Interesting  details  in  Ross's  Cradle  of  Christianity, 


VIA    DOLOROSA  133 


increasing  multitude  of  spectators  gathered  round 
the  advancing  procession. 

One  special  indignity  connected  with  the  punish- 
ment of  crucifixion  was  that  the  condemned  man 
had  to  carry  on  his  back  through  the  streets  the 
cross  upon  which  he  was  about  to  suffer.  In  pic- 
tures the  cross  of  Jesus  is  generally  represented  as  a 
lofty  structure,  such  as  a  number  of  men  would 
have  been  needed  to  carry  ;  but  the  reality  was 
something  totally  different  :  it  was  not  much  above 
the  height  of  a  man,*  and  there  was  just  enough  of 
wood  to  support  the  body.  But  the  weight  was 
considerable,  and  to  carry  it  on  the  back  which  had 
been  torn  with  scourging  must  have  been  excessively 
painful. 

Another  source  of  intense  pain  was  the  crown  of 
thorns,  if,  indeed.  He  still  wore  it.  We  are  told 
that  before  the  procession  set  out  towards  Gol- 
gotha the  robes  of  mockery  were  taken  off  and  His 
own  garments  put  on  ;  but  it  is  not  said  that  the 
crown  of  thorns  was  removed. 

Most  cruel  of  all,  however,  was  the  shame.  There 
was  a  kind  of  savage  irony  in  making  the  man  carry 
the  implement  on  which  he  was  to  suffer  ;  and,  in 

*  A  soldier  was  able  to  reach  up  to  the  lips  of  Christ  on  the 
cross  with  a  sponge  on  a  reed. 


134  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

point  of  fact,  throughout  classical  literature  this 
mode  of  punishment  is  a  constant  theme  of  savage 
banter  and  derision.* 

There  is  evidence  that  the  imagination  of  Jesus 
had  occupied  itself  specially  beforehand  with  this 
portion  of  His  sufferings.  Long  before  the  end  He 
had  predicted  the  kind  of  death  He  should  die  ;  but 
even  before  these  predictions  had  commenced  He 
had  described  the  sacrifices  which  would  have  to  be 
made  by  those  who  became  His  disciples  as  cross- 
bearing — as  if  this  were  the  last  extreme  of  suffering 
and  indignity.  Did  He  so  call  it  simply  because 
His  knowledge  of  the  world  informed  Him  of  this 
as  one  of  the  greatest  indignities  of  human  life  ?  or 
was  it  the  foreknowledge  that  He  Himself  was  to 
be  one  day  in  this  position  which  coloured  His  lan- 
guage ?  We  can  hardly  doubt  that  the  latter  was 
the  case.  And  now  the  hour  on  which  His  imagi- 
nation had  dwelt  was  come,  and  in  weakness  and 
helplessness  He  had  to  bear  the  cross  in  the  sight  of 
thousands  who  regarded  Him  with  scorn.  To  a 
noble  spirit  there  is  no  trial  more  severe  than  shame 
— to  be  the  object  of  cruel  mirth  and  insolent  tri- 
umph. Jesus  had  the  lofty  and  refined  self-con- 
sciousness  of   one   who   never  once   had    needed  to 

*  See  Horace,  S.  ii.  7,  47  ;  E.  1.  16,  48. 


VIA    DOLOROSA  135 


cringe  or  stoop.  He  loved  and  honoured  men  too 
much  not  to  wish  to  be  loved  and  honoured  by 
them  ;  He  had  enjoyed  days  of  unbounded  popu- 
larity, but.  now  His  soul  was  filled  with  reproach  to 
the  uttermost  ;  ai?d  He  could  have  appropriated  the 
words  of  the  Psalm,  "  I  am  a  worm  and  no  man  ;  a 
reproach  of  men  and  despised  of  the  people." 

The  reproach  of  Christ  is  all  turned  into  glory 
now  ;  and  it  is  very  difficult  to  realise  how  abject 
the  reality  was.  Nothing  perhaps  brings  this  out 
so  well  as  the  fact  that  two  robbers  were  sent  away 
to  be  executed  with  Him.  This  has  been  regarded 
as  a  special  insult  offered  to  the  Jews  by  Pilate,  who 
wished  to  show  how  contemptuously  he  could  treat 
One  whom  he  affected  to  believe  their  king.  But 
more  likely  it  is  an  indication  of  how  little  more 
Christ  was  to  the  Roman  officials  than  any  one  of 
the  prisoners  whom  they  put  through  their  hands 
day  by  day.  Pilate,  no  doubt,  had  been  interested 
and  puzzled  more  than  usual  ;  but,  after  all,  Jesus 
was  only  one  of  many  ;  His  execution  could  be 
made  part  of  the  same  job  with  that  of  the  other 
prisoners  on  hand.  And  so  the  three,  bearing  their 
crosses,  issued  from  the  gates  of  the  palace  together 
and  took  the  Dolorous  Way. 


136  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

II. 

Though  He  bore  His  own  cross  out  of  the  palace 
of  Pilate,  He  was  not  able  to  carry  it  far.  Either  He 
sank  beneath  it  on  the  road  or  He  was  proceeding 
with  such  slow  and  faltering  steps  that  the  soldiers, 
impatient  of  the  delay,  recognised  that  the  burden 
must  be  removed  from  His  shoulders.  The  severity 
of  the  scourging  was  in  itsi^lf  sufficient  to  account 
for  this  breakdown  ;  but,  besides.,  we  are  to  con- 
sider the  sleepless  night  through  which  He  had 
passed,  with  its  anxiety  and  abuse  ;  and  before  it 
there  had  been  the  agony  of  Gethsemane.  No 
wonder  His  exhaustion  had  reached  a  point  at  which 
it  was  absolutely  impossible  for  Him  to  proceed  far- 
ther with  such  a  h^urden. 

One  or  two  of  the  soldiers  might  have  relieved 
Him  ;  but,  in  the  spirit  of  horseplay  and  mischiel^ 
which  had  characterised  their  pait  of  the  proceed- 
ings from  the  moment  when  Christ  fell  into  their 
hands,  they  lay  hold  of  a  casual  passer-by  and 
requisitioned  his  services  for  the  purpose.  He  was 
coming  in  from  the  region  beyond  the  gate  as  they 
were  going  out,  and  they  acted  under  the  sanction 
of  military  law  or  custom. 

To  the  man  it  must  have  been  an  extreme  annoy- 
ance   and    indignity.     Doubtless    he    was    bent    on 


VIA    DOLOROSA  137 


business  of  his  own,  which  had  to  be  deferred.  His 
family  or  his  fiiends  might  be  waiting  for  him,  but 
he  was  turned  the  opposite  way.  To  touch  the  in- 
strument of  death  was  as  revolting  to  him  as  it 
would  be  to  us  to  handle  the  hangman's  rope  ;  per- 
Iiaps  more  so,  because  it  was  Passover  time,  and 
this  would  make  him  ceremonially  unclean.  It  was 
a  jest  of  the  soldiers,  and  he  was  their  laughing- 
stock. As  he  walked  by  the  side  of  the  robbers,  it 
looked  as  if  he  were  on  the  way  to  execution  him- 
self. 

This  is  a  lively  image  of  the  cross-bearing  to 
which  the  followers  of  Chiist  are  called.  We  are 
wont  to  speak  of  trouble  of  any  kind  as  a  cross  ; 
and  doubtless  any  kind  of  trouble  may  be  borne 
bravely  in  the  nam.e  of  Christ.  But,  properly  speak- 
ing, the  cross  of  Christ  is  what  is  borne  in  the  act 
of  confessing  Him  or  for  the  sake  of  His  work. 
When  anyone  makes  a  stand  for  principle,  because 
he  is  a  Christian,  and  takes  the  consequences  in  the 
shape  of  scorn  or  loss,  this  is  the  cross  of  Christ. 
The  pain  you  may  feel  in  speaking  to  another  in 
Christ's  name,  the  sacrifice  of  comfort  or  time  you 
may  make  in  engaging  in  Christian  work,  the  self- 
denial  you  exercise  in  giving  of  your  means  that  the 
cause  of  Christ  may  spread  at  home  or  abroad,  the 
reproach  you  may  have  to  bear  by  identifying  your- 


138  THE    TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

self  with  militant  causes  or  with  despised  persons, 
because  you  believe  they  are  on  Christ's  side — in 
such  conduct  lies  the  cross  of  Christ.  It  involves 
trouble,  discomfort  and  sacrifice.  One  may  fret 
under  it,  as  Simon  did  ;  one  may  sink  under  it,  as 
Jesus  did  Himself  ;  it  is  ugly,  painful,  shameful 
often  ;  but  no  disciple  is  without  it.  Our  Master 
said,  "  He  that  taketh  not  his  cross  and  followeth 
after  Me  is  not  worthy  of  Me." 


III. 


The  one  thing  which  makes  Simon  an  imperfect 
type  of  the  cross-bearer  is  that  we  are  uncertain 
whether  or  not  he  bore  the  burden  voluntarily. 
The  Roman  soldiers  forced  it  on  him  ;  but  was  it 
force-work  and  nothing  else  ? 

Some  have  supposed  that  he  was  an  adherent  of 
Christ  ;  but  it  is  extremely  improbable  that,  just  at 
the  moment  when  the  soldiers  needed  someone  for 
their  purpose,  one  of  the  very  few  followers  of  Jesus 
should  have  appeared.  The  tone  of  the  narrative 
seems  rather  to  indicate  that  he  was  one  who  hap- 
pened to  be  there  by  mere  chance  and  had  nothing 
to  do  with  the  proceedings  till,  against  his  will,  he 
was  made  an  actor  in  the  drama. 

He  is  said  by  the  Evangelist  to  have  been  a  Cy- 


VIA    DOLOROSA  1 39 


renian,  that  is,  an  inhabitant  of  Cyrene,  a  city  in 
North  Africa.  Strangers  from  this  place  are  men- 
tioned among  those  who  were  present  soon  after  at 
the  Feast  of  Pentecost,  when  the  Holy  Spirit  de- 
scended on  the  Church  in  tongues  of  fire.  And  the 
probability  is  that  Simon  had,  in  a  similar  way, 
come  from  his  distant  home  to  the  Passover.* 

He  had  come  on  pilgrimage.  Perhaps  he  was  a 
devout  soul,  waiting  for  the  consolation  of  Israel. 
In  far  Cyrene  he  may  have  been  praying  for  the 
coming  of  the  Messiah  and,  before  setting  out  on 
this  journey,  pleading  for  a  season  of  unusual  bless- 
ing. God  had  heard  and  was  going  to  answer  his 
prayers,  but  in  a  way  totally  different  from  his  ex- 
pectations. 

For  apparently  this  renco7itre  issued  in  his  salva- 
tion and  in  the  salvation  of  his  house.  The  Evan- 
gelist calls  him  familiarly  **  the  father  of  Alexander 
and  Rufus."  Evidently  the  two  sons  were  well 
known  to  those  for  whom  St.  Mark  was  writing  ; 
that  is,  they  were  members  of  the  Christian  circle. 


*  Many  Jews,  indeed,  who  had  once  been  inhabitants  of 
Cyrene  lived  in  Jerusalem — old  people,  probably,  who  had  come 
to  lay  their  bones  in  holy  ground  ;  for  we  learn  from  an  incidental 
notice  in  the  Acts  that  they  had  a  synagogue  of  their  own  in  the 
city  ;  and  Simon  may  have  been  one  of  these.  But  the  other  is 
the  more  likely  case. 


I40  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

And  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  connection  of 
his  family  with  the  Church  was  the  result  of  this  in- 
cident in  the  father's  life.  St.  Mark  wrote  his  Gos- 
pel for  the  Christians  of  Rome  ;  and  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Romans  one  Rufus  is  mentioned  as  resident 
there  along  with  his  mother.  This  may  be  one  of 
the  sons  of  Simon.  And  in  Acts  xiii.  i  one  Simeon 
— the  same  name  as  Simon — is  mentioned  along  with 
a  Lucius  of  Cyrene  as  a  conspicuous  Christian  at 
Antioch  :  he  is  called  Niger,  or  Black,  a  name  not 
surprising  for  one  who  had  been  tanned  by  the  hot 
sun  of  Africa.  There  are  Alexanders  mentioned 
elsewhere  in  the  New  Testament  ;  but  the  name  was 
common,  and  there  is  not  much  probability  that  any 
of  them  is  to  be  identified  with  Simon's  son.  Stilly 
putting  the  details  aside,  we  have  sufficiently  clear 
indications  that  in  consequence  of  this  incident 
Simon  became  a  Christian. 

Is  it  not  a  significant  fact,  proving  that  nothing 
happens  by  chance  ?  Had  Simon  entered  the  city 
one  hour  sooner,  or  one  hour  later,  his  after  history 
might  have  been  entirely  different.  On  the  small- 
est circumstances  the  greatest  results  may  hinge. 
A  chance  meeting  may  determine  the  weal  or  woe 
of  a  life.  Doubtless  to  Simon  this  encounter  seemed 
at  the  moment  the  most  unfortunate  incident  that 
could  have   befallen  him — an    interruption,   an    an- 


VIA    DOLOROSA  141 


noyance  and  a  humiliation  ;  yet  it  turned  out  to  be 
the  gateway  of  life.  Thus  do  blessings  sometimes 
come  in  disguise,  and  out  of  an  apparition,  at  the 
sight  of  which  we  cry  out  for  fear,  may  suddenly 
issue  the  form  of  the  Son  of  Man.  But  it  was  not 
Simon's  own  salvation  only  that  was  involved  in 
this  singular  experience,  but  that  of  his  family  as 
well.  How  much  may  follow  when  Christ  is  re- 
vealed to  any  human  soul  !  The  salvation  of  those 
yet  unborn  may  be  involved  in  it — of  children  and 
children's  children. 

But  think  how  blessed  to  Simon  would  appear  in 
after  days  the  cross-bearing  which  was  at  the  time 
so  bitter  !  No  doubt  it  became  the  romance  of  his 
life.  And  to  this  day  who  can  help  envying  him  for 
being  allowed  to  give  his  strength  to  the  fainting 
Saviour  and  to  remove  the  burden  from  that  bleed- 
ing and  smarting  back  ?  So  for  all  men  there  is  a 
day  coming  when  any  service  they  have  done  to 
Christ  will  be  the  memory  of  which  they  will  be 
most  proud.  It  will  not  be  the  recollection  of  the 
prizes  we  have  won,  the  pleasures  we  have  enjoyed, 
the  discomforts  we  have  escaped,  that  will  come 
back  to  us  with  delight  as  we  review  life  from  its 
close  ;  but,  if  we  have  denied  ourselves  and  borne 
the  cross  for  Christ's  sake,  the  memory  of  that  will 
be   a  pillow   soft  and  satisfying  for  a  dying  head. 


142  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

In  that  day  we  shall  wish  that  the  minutes  given  to 
Christ's  service  had  been  years,  and  the  pence 
pounds  ;  and  every  cup  of  cold  water  and  every 
word  of  sympathy  and  every  act  of  self  denial  will 
be  so  pleasant  to  remember  that  we  shall  wish  they 
had  been  multiplied  a  thousandfold. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

THE  DAUGHTERS  OF  JERUSALEM 

THERE  are  many  legends  clustering  round  this 
portion  of  our  Lord's  history. 
It  is  narrated,  for  example,  that,  when  the  divine 
Sufferer,  burdened  with  the  cross,  was  creeping 
along  feebly  and  slowly,  He  leaned  against  the  door 
of  a  house  which  stood  in  the  way,  when  the  occu- 
pier, striking  a  blow,  commanded  Him  to  hurry  on  ; 
to  which  the  Lord,  turning  to  His  assailant,  replied, 
"  Thou  shalt  go  on  and  never  stop  till  I  come 
again  ;"  and  to  this  day,  unable  to  find  either  rest 
or  death,  the  miserable  man  still  posts  over  the 
earth,  and  shall  continue  doing  so  until  the  Lord's 
return.  This  is  the  legend  of  the  Wandering  Jew, 
which  assumed  many  forms  in  the  lore  of  other  days 
and  still  plays  a  somewhat  prominent  part  in  litera- 
ture. It  is,  I  suppose,  a  fantastic  representation,  in 
the  person  of  an  individual,  of  the  tragic  fate  of  the 
Jewish  race,  which,  since  the  day  when  it  laid  vio- 
lent hands  on  the  Son  of  God,  has  had  no  rest  for 
the  sole  of  its  foot. 


144  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

To  another  story  of  the  Via  Dolorosa  as  distin- 
guished a  place  has  been  given  in  art  as  to  the 
legend  of  the  Wandering  Jew  in  literature.  Ver- 
onica, a  lady  in  Jerusalem,  seeing  Christ,  as  He 
passed  by,  sinking  beneath  His  burden,  came  out  of 
her  house  and  with  a  towel  washed  away  the  blood 
and  perspiration  from  His  face.  And  lo  !  when  she 
examined  the  napkin  with  which  the  charitable  act 
had  been  performed,  it  bore  a  perfect  likeness  of  the 
Man  of  Sorrows.  Some  of  the  greatest  painters 
have  reproduced  this  scene,  and  it  m.ay  be  under- 
stood as  teaching  the  lesson  that  even  the  commonest 
things  in  life,  when  employed  in  acts  of  mercy,  are 
stamped  with  the  image  and  superscription  of  Christ. 

In  Roman  Catholic  churches  there  may  generally 
be  seen  round  the  walls  a  series  of  about  a  dozen 
pictures,  taken  from  this  part  of  our  Lord's  life. 
They  are  denominated  the  Stations  of  the  Cross, 
because  the  worshippers,  going  round,  stop  to  look 
and  meditate  on  the  different  scenes.  In  Catholic 
countries  the  same  idea  is  sometimes  carried  out  on 
a  more  imposing  scale.  On  a  knoll  or  hill  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  a  town  three  lofty  crosses  stand  ; 
the  road  to  them  through  the  town  is  called  Via  Cal- 
varii^  and  at  intervals  along  the  way  the  scenes  of 
our  Lord's  sad  journey  are  represented  by  large 
frescoes  or  bas-reliefs. 


THE  DAUGHTERS   OF  JERUSALEM  T45 

But  we  really  know  for  certain  of  only  two  inci- 
dents of  the  Via  Dolorosa — that  in  which  our  Lord 
was  relieved  of  His  cross  by  Simon  the  Cyrenian 
and  that,  which  we  are  now  to  consider,  of  the 
sympathetic  daughters  of  Jerusalem. 


I. 


The  reader  of  the  history  of  our  Lord  in  its  last 
stages  is  sated  with  horrors.  In  some  of  the  scenes 
through  which  we  have  recently  accompanied  Him 
we  have  seemed  to  be  among  demons  rather  than 
men.  The  mind  longs  for  something  to  relieve  the 
monstrous  spectacles  of  fanatic  hate  and  cold-blood- 
ed cruelty.  Hence  this  scene  is  most  welcome,  in 
which  a  blink  of  sunshine  falls  on  the  path  of  woe, 
and  we  are  assured  that  we  need  not  lose  faith  in 
the  human  heart. 

It  was,  indeed,  a  surprising  demonstration.  It 
would  hardly  have  been  credited,  had  it  not  there 
been  made  manifest,  that  Jesus  had  so  strong  a 
hold  upon  any  section  of  the  population  of  Jerusa- 
lem. In  the  capital  He  had  always  found  the  soil 
very  unreceptive.  Jerusalem  was  the  headquarters 
of  rabbinic  learning  and  priestly  arrogance — the 
home  of  the  Pharisee  and  the  Sadducee,  who  guid- 
ed public  opinion  ;  and  there,  from  first  to  last.  He 


146  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OE JEScJS  CHRIST 

had  made  few  adherents.  It  was  in  the  provinces, 
especially  in  Galilee,  that  He  had  been  the  idol  of 
the  populace.  It  was  by  the  Galilean  pilgrims  to 
the  Passover  that  He  was  convoyed  into  the  capital 
with  shouts  of  Hosanna  ;  but  the  inhabitants  of  the 
city  stood  coldly  aloof,  and  before  Pilate's  judg- 
ment-seat they  cried  out,  "  Crucify  Him,  crucify 
Him  !" 

Yet  now  it  turns  out  that  He  has  touched  the 
heart  of  one  section  at  least  even  of  this  commu- 
nity :  "  There  followed  Him  a  great  company  of 
people  and  of  women,  which*  also  bewailed  and 
lamented  Him."  Some  have  considered  this  so 
extraordinary  that  they  have  held  these  women  to 
be  Galileans  ;  but  Jesus  addressed  them  as  "  daugh- 
ters of  Jerusalem."  The  Galilean  men  who  had 
surrounded  Him  in  His  hour  of  triumph  put  in  no 
appearance  now  in  His  hour  of  despair  ;*  but  tho 
women  of  Jerusalem  broke  away  from  the  example  of 
the  men  and  paid  the  tribute  of  tears  to  His  youtb^ 
character  and  sufferings.  It  is  said  that  there  was 
a  Jewish  law  forbidding  the  showing  of  any  sympa- 
thy to  a  condemned  man  ;  but,  if  so,  this  demon- 
stration was  all  the  more  creditable  to  those  who 
took  part  in  it.      The  upwelling  of  their  emotion  was 

*  The  participle  refers  to  the  women  alone. 


THE  DAUGHTERS   OF  JERUSALEM  147 

too  sincere  to  be  dammed  back  by  barriers  of  law 
and  custom. 

It  is  said  there  is  no  instance  in  the  Gospels  of  a 
woman  being  an  enemy  c>f  Jesus.  No  woman  de- 
serted or  betrayed;  persecuted  or  opposed  Him. 
But  women  followed  Him,  they  ministered  to  Him 
of  their  substance,  they  washed  His  feet  with  tears, 
they  anointed  His  head  with  spikenard  ;  and  now, 
when  their  husbands  and  brothers  were  hounding 
Him  to  death,  they  accompanied  Him  with  weeping 
and  wailing  to  the  scene  of  martyrdom.* 

It  is  a  great  testimony  to  the  character  of  Christ 
on  the  one  hand  and  to  that  of  woman  on  the 
other.  Woman's  instinct  told  her,  however  dimly 
she  at  first  apprehended  the  truth,  that  this  was  the 


*  "  How  slow  we  have  been  to  ask  our  sister  members  to 
help  us  ! — although  we  read  of  deaconesses  in  the  early  Church, 
and  although  we  do  not  read  of  a  single  woman  who  was  unkind 
and  unfaithful  to  the  Saviour  while  here  upon  earth.  Men  were 
diabolic  in  their  cruelty  to  Him,  but  never  did  a  woman  betray 
Him,  mock  Him,  desert  Him,  nor  spit  in  His  face.  Many  of 
them  cheered  Him  on  His  way  to  the  Cross,  washing  His  feet 
with  tears  before  men  pierced  them  with  nails,  anointing  His 
head  with  precious  perfume  in  anticipation  of  the  thorns  with 
v;hich  men  crowned  Him.  They  wept  with  Him  on  the  way  to 
Calvary,  and  were  true  to  Him  to  the  very  end.  And  are  they 
not  devoted  and  true  to-  Him  still  ?  Why.  then,  have  we  been 
so  long  in  calling  for  their  services  ?" — E.  Herbert  Evans, 
D.D. 


14S  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

Deliverer  for  her.  Because,  while  Christ  is  the 
Saviour  of  all,  He  has  been  specially  the  Saviour 
of  woman.  At  His  advent,  her  degradation  being 
far  deeper  than  that  of  men,  she  needed  Him  more  ; 
and,  wherever  His  gospel  has  travelled  since  then, 
it  has  been  the  signal  for  her  emancipation  and  re- 
demption. His  presence  evokes  all  the  tender  and 
beautiful  qualities  which  are  latent  in  her  nature  ; 
and  under  His  influence  her  character  experiences  a 
transfiguration.* 

It  has,  indeed,  been  contended  that  there  was  no 
great  depth  in  the  emotion  of  the  daughters  of 
Jerusalem  ;  and  we  need  not  deny  the  fact.  Their 
emotion  was  no  outburst  of  faith  and  repentance, 
carrying  with  it  1  evolutionary  effects,  as  tears  may 
sometimes  be.  It  was  an  overflow  of  natural  feel- 
ing, such  as  might  have  been  caused  by  any  pathetic 
instance  of  misfortune.  It  was  not  unlike  the  tears 
which  may  be  still  made  to  flow  from  the  eyes  of 
the  tender-hearted  b}^  a  moving  account  of  the  suf- 
ferings of  Christ  ;  and  we  know  that  such  emotions 
are  sometimes  far  from  lasting.  Our  nature  con- 
sists of  several  strata,  of  which  emotion  is  the  most 
superficial  ;  and  it  is  not  enough  that  religion  should 
operate  in  this  uppermost  region  :   it  must  be  thrust 

*  Brace,  Gesia  Christi. 


THE  DA  UGH  TER  S   OF  JER  USA  LEM  1 49 

down,  through  emotion,  into  the  deeper  regions, 
such  as  the  conscience  and  the  will,  and  catch' hold 
and  kindle  there,  before  it  can  achieve  the  mastery 
of  the  entire  being. 

But  this  response  of  womanhood  to  Christ  was  a 
beginning  ;  and  therein  lay  its  significance.  It  was 
to  Him  a  foretaste  of  the  splendid  devotion  which 
He  was  yet  to  receive  from  the  womanhood  of  the 
world.  It  was  as  welcome  to  Him  in  that  hour  of 
desertion  and  reproach  as  is  the  sight  of  a  tuft  of 
grass  to  the  thirsty  traveller  in  the  desert.  The 
sounds  of  sympathy  flowed  over  His  soul  as  grate- 
fully as  the  gift  of  Mary's  love  enveloped  His  senses 
when  the  house  was  filled  with  the  odour  of  the 
ointment. 

Thus  in  the  Via  Dolorosa  Jesus  experienced  two 
alleviations  of  His  suffering  :  the  strength  of  a  man 
relieved  His  body  of  the  burden  of  the  cross,  and 
the  pain  of  His  soul  was  cooled  by  the  sympathy  of 
women.  Is  it  not  a  parable — a  parable  of  what 
men  and  women  can  do  for  Him  still  ?  Christ 
needs  the  strength  of  men — the  strong  arm,  the 
vigorous  hand,  the  shoulders  that  can  bear  the  bur- 
den of  His  cause  ;  He  seeks  from  men  the  mind 
whose  originality  can  plan  what  needs  to  be  done, 
the  resolute  will  that  pushes  the  work  on  in  spite  of 
opposition,  the  liberal  hand  that  gives  ungrudgingly 


150  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

what  is  required  for  the  progress  and  success  of  the 
Christian  enterprise.  From  women  he  seeks  sym- 
pathy and  tears.  They  can  give  the  sensibility 
wliich  keeps  the  heart  of  the  world  from  harden- 
ing ;  the  secret  knowledge  which  finds  out  the  ob- 
jects of  Christian  compassion  and  wins  their  confi- 
dence ;  the  enthusiasm  which  burns  like  a  fire  at  the 
heart  of  religious  work.  The  influence  of  women  is 
subtle  and  remote  ;  but  it  is  on  this  account  all  the 
more  powerful  ;  for  they  sit  at  the  very  fountains, 
where  the  river  of  human  life  is  springing,  and 
where  a  touch  may  determine  its  entire  subsequent 
couibe. 

II. 

It  has  been  allowed  to  condemned  men  in  all  ages 
to  speak  to  the  crowds  assembled  to  witness  their 
death.  The  dying  speech  used  in  this  country  to  be 
a  regular  feature  of  executions.  Even  in  ages  of 
persecution  the  martyrs  were  usually  allowed,  as 
they  ascended  the  ladder,  to  address  the  multitude  ; 
and  these  testimonies,  some  of  which  were  of  singu- 
lar power  and  beauty,  were  treasured  by  the  re- 
ligious section  of  the  community.  It  is  nothing  sur- 
prising, therefore,  that  Jesus  should  have  addressed 
those  who  followed  Him  or  should  have  been  per- 
mitted to  do  so.     No  doubt  He  was  at  the  last  point 


THE   DA  UGH  TER  S   OE  JER  USA  LEM  1 5 1 

of  exhaustion,  but,  when  He  was  relieved  of  the 
weight  of  the  cross.  He  was  able  to  rally  strength 
sufficient  for  this  effort.  Pausing  in  the  road  and 
turning  to  the  women,  whose  weeping  and  wailing 
were  filling  His  ears,  He  addressed  Himself  to 
them. 

His  words  are,  in  the  first  place,  a  revelation  of 
Himself.  They  show  what  was  demonstrated  again 
and  again  during  the  crucifixion — how  completely 
He  could  forget  His  own  sufferings  in  care  and  anx- 
iety for  others.  His  sufferings  had  already  been 
extreme  ;  His  soul  had  been  filled  with  injustice 
and  insult  ;  at  this  very  moment  His  body  was  quiv- 
ering with  pain  and  His  mind  darkened  with  the 
approach  of  still  more  atrocious  agonies.  Yet,  when 
He  heard  behind  Him  the  sobs  of  the  daughters  of 
Jerusalem,  there  rushed  over  His  soul  a  wave  of 
compassion  in  which  for  the  moment  His  own 
troubles  were  submerged. 

We  see  in  His  words,  too,  the  depth  and  fervour 
of  His  patriotism.  When  He  saw  the  tears  of  the 
women,  the  spectacle  raised  in  His  mind  an  image 
of  the  doom  impending  over  the  city  whose  daugh- 
ters they  were.  Jerusalem,  as  has  been  already 
said,  had  always  been  extremely  unresponsive  to 
Him  ;  she  had  played  to  Him  an  unmotherly  part. 
None  the  less,  however,  did  He  feel  for  her  the  love 


152   THE    TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

of  a  loyal  son.  He  had  shown  this  a  few  days  be- 
fore, when,  in  the  midst  of  His  triumph.  He  paused 
on  the  brow  of  Olivet,  where  the  city  came  into 
view,  and  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears,  accompanied 
with  such  a  lyric  cry  of  affection  as  has  never  been 
addressed  to  any  other  city  on  earth.  Subsequent- 
ly, sitting  with  His  disciples  over  against  the  tem- 
ple, He  showed  how  well  He  foreknew  the  terrible 
fate  which  hung  over  the  capital  of  His  country, 
and  how  poignantly  He  felt  it.  The  city's  doom 
was  nigh  at  hand  :  less  than  half  a  century  distant  : 
and  it  was  to  be  unparalleled  in  its  horror.  The 
secular  historian  of  it,  himself  a  Jew,  says  in  his 
narrative  :  "  There  has  never  been  a  race  on  earth, 
and  there  never  will  be  one,  whose  sufferings  can 
be  matched  with  those  of  Jerusalem  in  the  days  of 
the  siege."  It  was  the  foresight  of  this  which  made 
Jesus  now  say,  "  Daughters  of  Jerusalem,  weep  not 
for  Me,  but  weep  for  yourselves  and  for  your  chil- 
dren." 

His  words,  still  further,  reveal  His  consideration 
for  women  and  children.  The  tears  of  the  women 
displayed  an  appreciation  and  sympathy  for  Him 
such  as  the  men  were  incapable  of  ;  but  well  did 
He  deserve  them,  for  His  words  show  that  He  had 
a  comprehension  of  women  and  a  sympathy  with 
them  such  as  had  never  before  existed  in  the  world. 


THE  DAUGHTERS   OF  JERUSALEM  153 

With  the  force  of  the  imagination  and  the  heart  He 
realised  how,  in  the  approaching  siege,  the  heaviest 
end  of  the  misery  would  fall  on  the  female  portion 
of  the  population,  and  how  the  mothers  would  be 
wounded  through  their  children.  In  that  country, 
where  children  were  regarded  as  the  crown  and 
glory  of  womanhood,  the  currents  of  nature  would 
be  so  completely  reversed  by  the  madness  of  hunger 
and  pain  that  barrenness  would  be  esteemed  fortu- 
nate ;  and  in  a  country  where  length  of  days  had 
been  considered  the  supreme  blessing  of  life  they 
would  long  and  cry  for  sudden  and  early  death. 

So  it  actually  turned  out.  An  outstanding  feature 
of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  according  to  the  secular 
historian,  was  the  suffering  of  the  women  and  chil- 
dren. Besides  using  every  other  device  of  warfare, 
the  Romans  deliberately  resorted  to  starvation,  and 
the  inhabitants  endured  the  uttermost  extremities 
of  hunger.  So  frenzied  did  the  men  become  at  last 
that  every  extra  mouth  requiring  to  be  filled  became 
an  object  of  delirious  suspicion,  and  the  last  morsels 
were  snatched  from  the  lips  of  the  women  and  chil- 
dren. One  is  tempted  to  quote  some  of  the  stories 
of  Josephus  about  this,  but  they  are  so  awful  that  it 
would  be  scarcely  decent  to  repeat  them. 

This  was  what  the  quick  sympathy  of  Jesus  en- 
abled Him  to  divine  ;  and   His  compassion  gushed 


154  THE    TRIAL  AND  DBA  TH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

forth  towards  those  who  were  to  be  the  chief  suffer- 
ers. Women  and  children — how  irreverently  they 
have  been  thought  of,  how .  callously  and  brutally 
treated,  since  history  began  !  Yet  they  are  always 
the  majority  of  the  human  race.  Praise  be  to  Him 
who  lifted  them,  and  is  still  lifting  them,  out  of  the 
dust  of  degradation  and  ill-usage,  and  who  put  in 
on  their  behalf  the  plea  of  justice  and  mercy  ! 

Finally,  there  was  in  the  woids  addressed  to  the 
daughters  of  Jerusalem  an  exhortation  to  repent- 
ance. When  Jesus  said,  "  Weep  for  yourselves  and 
for  your  children,"  He  was  referring  not  merely  to 
the  approaching  calamities  of  the  city,  but  to  its 
guilt.  This  was  indicated  most  clearly  in  the  clos- 
ing words  of  His  address  to  them — "  For  if  they  do 
these  things  in  a  green  tree,  what  shall  be  done  in 
the  dry  ?" 

He  could  speak  of  Himself  as  a  green  tree.  He 
was  young  and  He  was  innocent  ;  to  this  the  tears 
of  the  women  testified  ;  there  was  no  reason  why 
He  should  die  ;  yet  God  permitted  all  these  things 
to  happen  to  Him.  The  Jewish  nation  ought  also 
to  have  been  a  green  tree.  God  had  planted  and 
tended  it  ;  it  had  enjoyed  every  advantage  ;  but, 
when  He  came  seeking  fruit  on  it.  He  found  none. 
It  was  withered  ;  the  sap  of  virtue  and  godliness 
had  gone  out  of  it  ;  it  was  dry  and  ready  for  the 


THE  DAUGHTERS   OF  JERUSALEM  155 

burning  ;  and,  when  the  enemy  came  to  apply  the 
firebrand,  why  should  God  interpose  ?  Thus  did 
Jesus  attempt  once  more  to  awaken  repentance. 
He  wished  to  thrust  the  impressions  of  the  daugh- 
ters of  Jerusalem  down  from  the  region  of  feeling 
into  a  deeper  place.  They  had  given  Him  tears  of 
emotion  ;  He  desired,  besides  these,  tears  of  con- 
trition ;  for  in  religion  nothing  is  accomplished  till 
impression  touches  the  conscience. 

Whether  any  of  them  responded  in  earnest  we 
cannot  tell.  Not  many,  it  is  to  be  feared.  Nor 
can  we  tell  whether  by  repentance  the  destruction 
of  the  Jewish  state  might  still  have  been  averted. 
At  all  events,  the  fire  of  invasion  soon  fell  on  the 
dry  tree,  and  it  was  burnt  up.  And  since  then 
those  who  would  not  weep  for  their  sins  before  the 
stroke  of  punishment  fell  have  had  to  weep  without 
ceasing.  Visitors  to  Jerusalem  at  the  present  day 
are  conducted  to  a  spot  called  the  Place  of  Wailing, 
where  every  Friday  representatives  of  the  race  weep 
for  the  destruction  of  their  city  and  temple.*  This 
has  gone  on  for  centuries  ;  and  it  is  only  a  symbol  of 
the  cup  of  astonishment,  filled  to  the  brim,  which  has 
during  many  centuries  been  held  to  the  lips  of  Israel. 

Sin   must   be   wept   for   some   time — if  not  before 

*  Striking  description  in  Baring-Gould,  The  Passion  of  Jesus, 
p.  75- 


156  THE    TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  'CHRIST 

punishment  has  fallen,  then  after  ;  if  not  in  time, 
then  in  eternity.  This  is  a  lesson  for  all.  And  has 
not  that  final  word  of  Jesus  a  meaning  for  us  even 
more  solemn  than  it  had  for  those  to  whom  it  was 
first  addressed — "  If  these  things  be  done  in  a  green 
tree,  what  shall  be  done  in  the  dry  ?"  If  woe  and 
anguish  fell,  as  they  did,  even  on  the  Son  of  God, 
when  He  was  bearing  the  sins  of  the  world,  what 
will  be  the  portion  of  those  who  have  to  bear  their 
own  ? 


CHAPTER  XII. 
CALVARY 

ANYONE  writing  on  the  life  of  our  Lord  must 
many  a  time  pause  in  secret  and  exclaim  to 
himself,  "  It  is  high  as  heaven,  what  canst  thou  do  ? 
deeper  than  hell,  what  canst  thou  know  ?"  But  we 
have  now  arrived  at  the  point  where  this  sense  of 
inadequacy  falls  most  oppressively  on  the  heart. 
To-day  we  are  to  see  Christ  crucified.  But  who  is 
worthy  to  look  at  this  sight  ?  Who  is  able  to  speak 
of  it  ?  "  Such  knowledge  is  too  wonderful  for  me  ; 
it  is  high  ;  I  cannot  attain  unto  it."  In  the  pres- 
ence of  such  a  subject  one  feels  one's  mind  to  be 
like  some  tiny  creature  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea — as 
incapable  of  comprehending  it  all  as  is  the  crusta- 
cean of  scooping  up  the  Atlantic  in  its  shell. 

This  spot  to  which  we  have  come  is  the  centre  of 
all  things.  Here  two  eternities  meet.  The  streams 
of  ancient  history  converge  here,  and  here  the  river 
of  modern  history  takes  its  rise.  The  eyes  of  patri- 
archs and  prophets  strained  forward  to  Calvary,  and 
now  the  eyes  of  all  generations  and  of  all  races  look 


158  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEA  TH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

back  to  it.  This  is  the  end  of  all  roads.  The  seeker 
after  truth,  who  has  explored  the  realms  of  knowl- 
edge, comes  to  Calvary  and  finds  at  last  that  he  has 
reached  the  centre.  The  weary  heart  of  man,  that 
has  wandered  the  world  over  in  search  of  perfect 
sympathy  and  love,  at  last  arrives  here  and  finds 
rest.  Think  how  many  souls  every  Lord's  Day, 
assembled  in  church  and  chapel  and  meeting-house, 
are  thinking  of  Golgotha  !  how  many  eyes  are 
turned  thither  every  day  from  beds  of  sickness  and 
chambers  of  death  !  "  Lord,  to  whom  can  we  go  ? 
Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life." 

Though,  therefore,  the  theme  is  too  high  for  us, 
yet  we  will  venture  forward.  It  is  too  high  for 
human  thought  ;  yet  nowhere  else  is  the  mind  so 
exalted  and  ennobled.  At  Calvary  poets  have  sung 
their  sweetest  strains,  and  artists  seen  their  sublim- 
est  visions,  and  thinkers  excogitated  their  noblest 
ideas.  The  crustacean  lies  at  the  bottom  of  the 
ocean,  and  the  world  of  waters  rolls  above  it  ;  it 
cannot  in  its  tiny  shell  comprehend  these  leagues 
upon  leagues  of  solid  translucent  vastness  ;  and  yet 
the  ocean  fills  its  shell  and  causes  its  little  body  to 
throb  with  perfect  happiness.  And  so,  though  we 
cannot  take  in  all  the  meaning  of  the  scene  before 
which  we  stand,  yet  we  can  fill  mind  and  heart  with 
it  to  the  brim,  and,  as  it  sends  through  our  being  the 


CALVARY  159 

pulsations  of  a  life  divine,  rejoice  that  it  has  a 
breadth  and  length,  a  height  and  depth,  which  pass 
understanding. 

I. 

The  long  journey  through  the  streets  to  the  place 
of  execution  was  at  length  ended,  and  thereby  the 
weary  journeyings  of  the  Sufferer  came  to  a  close. 
The  soldiers  set  about  their  preparations  for  the  last 
act.  But  meanwhile  a  little  incident  occurred  which 
the  behaviour  of  Jesus  filled  with  significance. 

The  wealthy  ladies  of  Jerusalem  had  the  practice 
of  providing  for  those  condemned  to  the  awful  pun- 
ishment of  crucifixion  a  soporific  draught,  composed 
of  wine  mixed  with  some  narcotic  like  gall  or 
myrrh,*  to  dull  the  senses  and  deaden  the  pain.  It 
was  a  benevolent  custom  ;  and  the  cip  was  offered 
to  all  criminals,  irrespective  of  their  crimes.  It  was 
administered  immediately  before  the  frightful  work 
of  nailing  the  culprit  to  the  tree  commenced.  This 
draught  was  handed  to  Jesus  on  His  arrival  at  Gol- 
gotha. Exhausted  with  fatigue  and  burning  with 
thirst.  He  grasped  the  cup  eagerly  and  lifted  it 
without  suspicion   to   His  lips.      But,  as  soon  as  He 

*  One  Evangelist  says  gall,  another  myrrh,  and  on  this  differ- 
ence harmonists  and  their  antagonists  have  spent  their  time  ; 
but  surely  it  is  not  worth  while. 


i6o  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

tasted  it  and  felt  the  fumes  of  the  stupefying  in- 
gredient, He  laid  it  down  and  would  not  drink. 

It  was  a  simple  act,  yet  full  of  heroism.  He  was 
in  that  extremity  of  thirst  when  a  person  will  drink 
almost  anything  ;  and  He  was  face  to  face  with  out- 
rageous torture.  In  subsequent  times  many  of  His 
own  faithful  martyis,  on  their  way  to  execution, 
gladly  availed  themselves  of  this  merciful  provision. 
But  He  would  not  allow  His  intellect  to  be  clouded. 
His  obedience  was  not  yet  complete  ;  His  plan  was 
not  fully  wrought  out  ;  He  would  keep  His  taste  for 
death  pure.  I  have  heard  of  a  woman  dying  of  a 
frightful  malady,  who,  when  she  was  pressed  by 
those  witnessing  her  agony  to  take  an  intoxicating 
draught,  refused,  saying,  "  No,  I  want  to  die  sober." 
She  had  caught,  I  think,  the  spirit  of  Christ. 

This  is  a  very  strange  place  in  which  to  alight  on 
the  problem  of  the  use  and  abuse  of  those  products 
of  nature  or  art  which  induce  intoxication  or  stupe- 
faction. Roots  or  juices  with  such  properties  have 
been  known  to  nearly  all  races,  the  savage  as  well 
as  the  civilised  ;  and  they  have  played  a  great  part 
in  the  life  of  mankind.  Their  history  is  one  of  the 
most  curious.  They  are  associated  with  the  mys- 
teries of  false  religions  and  with  the  phenomena  of 
heathen  prophecy  and  witchcraft  ;  acting  on  the 
mind  through  the  senses,  they  open  up  in  it  a  region 


CALVARY  i6; 


of  mystery,  horror  and  gloomy  magnificence  of 
which  the  normal  man  is  unconscious.  They  have 
always  been  a  favourite  resource  of  the  medical  art, 
and  in  modern  times,  in  such  forms  as  opium  and 
other  better-known  intoxicants,  they  have  created 
some  of  the  gravest  moral  problems. 

On  the  wide  question  of  the  use  of  such  sub- 
stances as  stimulants  we  need  not  at  present  enter  ; 
it  is  to  their  use  for  the  opposite  purpose  of  lowering 
consciousness  that  this  incident  draws  attention. 
That  in  some  cases  this  use  is  both  merciful  and 
permissible  will  not  be  denied.  The  discovery  in 
our  own  day,  by  one  of  our  own  countrymen,  of  the 
use  of  chloroform  is  justly  regarded  as  among  the 
greatest  benefits  ever  conferred  on  the  human  race. 
When  the  unconsciousness  thus  produced  enables 
the  surgeon  to  perform  an  operation  which  might 
not  be  possible  at  all  without  it,  or  when  in  the 
crisis  of  a  fever  the  sleep  induced  by  a  narcotic 
gives  the  exhausted  system  power  to  continue  the 
combat  and  saves  the  life,  we  can  only  be  thankful 
that  the  science  of  to-day  has  such  resources  in  its 
treasury. 

On  the  other  hand,  however,  there  are  grave  off- 
sets to  these  advantages.  Millions  of  men  and 
women  resort  to  such  substances  in  order  to  dull  the 
nerves  and  cloud  the  brain  during  pain  and  sorrow 


i62   THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

which  God  intended  them  to  face  and  bear  with 
sober  courage,  as  Jesus  endured  His  on  the  cross. 
On  the  medical  profession  rests  the  responsibility 
of  so  using  the  power  placed  in  their  hands  as  not 
to  destroy  the  dignity  of  the  most  solemn  passages 
of  life.*  It  will  for  ever  remain  true  that  pain  and 
trial  are  the  discipline  of  the  soul  ;  but  to  reel  through 
these  crises  in  the  drowsy  forgetfulness  of  intoxica- 
tion is  to  miss  the  best  chances  of  moral  and  spiritual 
development.  Men  and  women  are  made  perfect 
through  suffering  ;  but  that  suffering  may  do  its 
work  it  must  be  felt.  There  is  no  greater  misfor- 
tune than  to  bear  too  easily  the  strokes  of  God.  A 
bereavement,  for  example,  is  sent  to  sanctify  a 
home  ;  but  it  may  fail  of  its  mission  because  the 
household  is  too  busy,  or  because  too  many  are 
coming  and  going,  or  because  tongues,  mistakenly 
kind  and  garrulous,  chatter  God's  messenger  out  of 
doors.  It  is  natural  that  physicians  and  kind 
friends  should  try  to  make  sufferers  forget  their 
grief.  But  they  may  be  too  successful.  Though 
the  practice  of  the  ladies  of  Jerusalem  was  a  benevo- 
lent one,  the  gift  mixed  by  their  charitable   hands 

*  The  distinction  between  the  legitimate  and  the  illegitimate 
use  is  not  very  easy  to  draw  ;  but  there  is  an  obvious  difference 
between  destroying  pain  for  an  ulterior  purpose  and  destroying 
it  merely  to  save  the  feeling  of  the  sufferer. 


CALVARY  163 


appeared   to  our  Lord  a  cup  of  temptation,  and  He 
resolutely  put  it  aside. 


II 


All  was  now  ready  for  the  last  act,  and  the  soldiers 
started  their  ghastly  work. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  harrow  up  the  feelings  of 
my  readers  with  minute  descriptions  of  the  horrors 
of  crucifixion.*  Nothing  would  be  easier,  for  it 
was  an  unspeakably  awful  form  of  death.  Cicero, 
who  was  well  acquainted  with  it,  says  :  "  It  was  the 
most  cruel  and  shameful  of  all  punishments," 
"  Let  it  never,"  he  adds,  "  come  near  the  body  of 
a  Roman  citizen  ;  nay,  not  even  near  his  thoughts 
or  eyes  or  ears.'-'  It  was  the  punishment  reserved 
for  slaves  and  for  revolutionaries,  whose  end  was 
intended  to  be  marked  by  special  infamy. 

The  cross  was  most  probably  of  the  form  in  which 
it  is  usually  represented — an  upright  post  crossed 
by  a  bar  near  the  top.     There  were  other  two  forms 

*  On  the  details  of  crucifixion  there  is  an  extremely  interesting 
and  learned  excursus  in  Zockler's  Das  Kreuz  Christi  (Beilage 
III.).  Cicero's  Verrine  Orations  contain  a  good  deal  that  is 
valuable  to  a  student  of  the  Passion,  especially  in  regard  to 
scourging  and  crucifixion.  Crucifixion  was  an  extremely  com- 
mon form  of  punishment  in  the  ancient  world  ;  but  "the  cross 
of  the  God-Man  has  put  an  end  to  the  punishment  of  the  cross.'' 


1 64  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

— that  of  the  letter  "f  and  that  of  the  letter  X — but, 
as  the  accusation  of  Jesus  is  said  to  have  been  put 
up  over  His  head,  there  must  have  been  a  projection 
above  the  bar  on  which  His  arms  were  outstretched. 
The  arms  were  probably  bound  to  the  cross-beam, 
as  without  this  the  hands  would  have  been  torn 
through  by  the  weight.  And  for  a  similar  reason 
there  was  a  piece  of  wood  projecting  from  the 
middle  of  the  upright  beam,  on  which  the  body  sat. 
The  feet  were  either  nailed  separately  or  crossed 
the  one  over  the  other,  with  a  nail  through  both. 
It  is  doubtful  whether  the  body  was  affixed  before 
or  after  the  cross  was  elevated  and  planted  in  the 
ground.  The  head  hung  free,  so  that  the  dying  man 
could  both  see  and  speak  to  those  about  the  cross. 

In  modern  executions  the  greatest  pains  are  taken 
to  make  death  as  nearly  as  possible  instantaneous, 
and  any  bungling  which  prolongs  the  agony  excites 
indignation  and  horror  in  the  public  mind.  But 
the  most  revolting  feature  of  death  by  crucifixion 
was  that  the  torture  was  deliberately  prolonged. 
The  victim  usually  lingered  a  whole  day,  sometimes 
two  or  three  days,  still  retaining  consciousness  ; 
while  the  burning  of  the  wounds  in  the  hands  and 
feet,  the  uneasiness  of  the  unnatural  position,  the 
oppression  of  overcharged  veins  and,  above  all,  the 
intolerable  thirst  were  constantly  increasing.     Jesus 


CALVARY  I&5 


did  not  suffer  so  long  ;  but  He  lingered  for  four  or 
five  hours. 

I  will  not,  however,  proceed  further  in  describing 
the  sicken'ng  details.  How  far  all  these  horrors 
may  have  been  essential  elements  in  His  sufferings 
it  would  be  difficult  to  say.  Apart  from  the  proph- 
ecies going  before  which  had  to  be  fulfilled,  was  it  a 
matter  of  indifference  what  death  He  died  ?  Would 
it  have  served  equally  well  if  He  had  been  hanged 
or  beheaded  or  stoned  ?  We  cannot  tell.  Only, 
when  we  know  the  secret  of  what  His  soul  suffered, 
we  can  discern  the  fitness  of  the  choice  of  the  most 
shameful  and  painful  of  all  forms  of  death  for  His 
body.* 

The  true  sufferings  of  Christ  were  not  physical, 
but  internal.  Looking  on  that  Face,  we  see  the 
shadow  of  a  deeper  woe  than  smarting  wounds  and 
raging  thirst  and  a  racking  frame — the  woe  of 
slighted  love,  of  a  heart  longing  for  fellowship  but 
overwhelmed  with  hatred  ;  the  woe  of  insult  and 
wrong,  and  of  unspeakable  sorrow  for  the  fate  of 
those  who  would  not  be  saved.  Nor  is  even  this 
the  deepest  shadow.  There  was  then  in  the  heart 
of  the   Redeemer  a  woe   to  which   no  human  words 


*  Zockler  maintains  that  crucifixion,  while  the  most  shameful, 
was  not  absolutely  the  most  painful  form  of  death. 


1 66  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

are  adequate.  He  was  dying  for  the  sin  of  the 
world.  He  had  taken  on  Himself  the  guilt  of  man- 
kind, and  was  now  engaged  in  the  final  struggle  to 
put  it  away  and  annihilate  it.  On  the  cross  was 
hanging  not  only  the  body  of  flesh  and  blood  of  the 
Man  Christ  Jesus,  but  at  the  same  time  His  mystical 
body — that  body  of  which  He  is  the  head  and  His 
people  are  the  members.  Through  this  body  also 
the  nails  were  driven,  and  on  it  death  took  its  re- 
venge. His  people  died  with  Him  unto  sin,  that 
they  might  live  for  evermore. 

This  is  the  mystery,  but  it  is  also  the  glory  of  the 
scene.  Till  He  hung  on  it,  the  cross  was  the  sym- 
bol of  slavery  and  vulgar  wickedness  ;  but  He  con- 
verted it  into  the  symbol  of  heroism,  self-sacrifice 
and  salvation.  It  was  only  a  wretched  framework 
of  coarse  and  blood-clotted  beams,  which  it  was  a 
shame  to  touch  ;  but  since  then  the  world  has 
gloried  in  it  ;  it  has  been  carved  in  every  form  of 
beauty  and  every  substance  of  price  ;  it  has  been 
emblazoned  on  the  flags  of  nations  and  engraved  on 
the  sceptres  and  diadems  of  kings.*     The  cross  was 


*  The  appreciation  of  the  significance  of  the  Cross  has  gone 
on  in  two  lines— the  Artistic  and  the  Doctrinal — both  of  which 
are  followed  out  with  varied  learning  in  Zockler's  Kreuz  Chiisti. 

The  English  reader  may  with  great  satisfaction  trace  the 
artistic   development   in   Mrs.  Jameson's  History  of  our  Lord  as 


CALVAJ^Y  .  167 


planted  on  Golgotha  a  dry,  dead  tree  ;  but  lo  !  it  has 
blossomed  like  Aaron's  rod  ;  it  has  struck  its  roots 
deep  down  to  the  heart  of  the  world,  and  sent  its 


exemplified  in  Works  of  Art,  where  the  following  scheme  is  given 
of  the  varieties  of  treatment  : — 

"  Symbolical,  when  the  abstract  personifications  of  the  sun  and 
moon,  earth  and  ocean,  are  present. 

"  Sacrificially  symbolical,  when  the  Eucharistic  cup  is  seen 
below  the  Cross,  or  the  pelican  feeding  her  young  is  placed 
above  it. 

*'  Simply  doctrinal,  when  the  Virgin  and  St.  John  stand  on  each 
side,  as  solemn  witnesses  ;  or  our  Lord  is  drinking  the  cup,  some- 
times literally  so  represented,  given  Him  of  the  Father,  while 
the  lance  opens  the  sacramental  font. 

"  Historically  ideal,  as  when  the  thieves  are  joined  to  the  scene, 
and  sorrowing  angels  throng  the  air. 

"  Historically  devotional,  as  when  the  real  features  of  the  scene 
are  preserved,  and  saints  and  devotees  are  introduced. 

^'Legendary,  as  when  we  see  the  Virgin  fainting. 

''Allegorical  and  fantastic,  as  when  the  tree  is  made  the 
principal  object,  with  its  branches  terminating  in  patriarchs  and 
prophets,  virtues  and  graces. 

"■Realistic,  as  when  the  mere  event  is  rendered  as  through  the 
eyes  of  an  unenlightened  looker-on. 

"  These  and  many  other  modes  of  conception  account  for  the 
great  diversity  in  the  treatment  of  this  subject  ;  a  further  variety 
being  given  by  the  combination  of  two  or  more  of  these  modes 
of  treatment  together  ;  for  instance,  the  pelican  may  be  seen 
above  the  Cross  giving  her  life's  blood  for  her  offspring  ;  angels 
in  attitudes  of  despair,  bewailing  the  Second  Person  of  the 
Trinity  ;  or,  in  an  ideal  sacramental  sense,  catching  the  blood 
from  His  wounds — the  Jews  below  looking  on,  as  they  really  did, 
with  contemptuous  gestures  and  hardened  hearts  ;  the  centurion 
acknowledging  that   this   was   really  the   Son  of  God,  while  the 


1 68  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

branches  upwards,  till  to-day  it  fills  the  earth,  and 
the  nations  rest  beneath  its  shadow  and  eat  of  its 
pleasant  fruits.* 

group  of  the  fainting  Virgin,  supported  by  the  Marys  and  St. 
John,  adds  legend  to  symbolism,  ideality,  and  history." 

In  the  study  of  the  doctrinal  development  nothing  is  so  im- 
portant as  the  exegesis  of  the  New  Testament  statements  about 
the  Cross  ;  and  this  has  been  done  in  a  masterly  way  by  Dr. 
Dale  in  his  work  on  the  Atonement.  What  may  be  called  the 
Philosophy  of  the  Cross  (to  borrow  a  happy  phrase  of  McCheyne 
Edgar's)  came  late.  It  is  usually  reckoned  to  have  commenced 
with  Anselm  ;  and  since  the  Reformation  every  great  theologian 
has  added  his  contribution.  Yet  the  work  is  by  no  means  com- 
pleted. Indeed,  at  the  present  day  there  is  no  greater  desider- 
atum in  theology  than  a  philosophy  of  the  Cross  which  would 
thoroughly  satisfy  the  religious  mind.  Shallow  theories  abound  ; 
but  the  Church  of  Christ  will  never  be  able  to  rest  in  any  theory 
which  does  not  do  justice,  on  the  one  hand,  to  the  tremendously 
strong  statements  of  Scripture  on  the  subject  and,  on  the  other, 
to  her  own  consciousness  of  unique  and  infinite  obligation  to  the 
dying  Saviour.  Perhaps  the  most  satisfactory  expression  of  the 
Christian  consciousness  on  the  subject  is  to  be  found  in  the 
hymns  of  the  Church,  from  the  Te  Deum  down  through  .Scotus 
Erigena  and  Fulbert  of  Chartres  to  Gerhardt  and  Toplady.  See 
Schaff's  Christ  in  Song. 

A  third  line  of  development  might  be  traced — the  Practical  — 
in  martyrology,  the  history  of  missions,  asceticism,  and  the  like  ; 
and  the  spokesman  of  this  branch  of  the  truth  is  a  Kempis, 
who,  as  Zockler  says,  teaches  his  disciples  to  know  poverty  and 
humility  as  the  roots  of  the  tree  of  the  Cross,  labour  and  peni- 
tence as  its  bark,  righteousness  and  mercy  as  its  two  principal 
branches,  truth  and  doctrine  as  its  precious  leaves,  chastity  and 
obedience  as  its  blossoms,  temperance  and  discipline  as  its  fra- 
grance, and  salvation  and  eternal  life  as  its  glorious  fruit. 

*  When  the  Northern  nations  became  Christian  they  trans- 


CALVARY  169 


III. 

At  length  the  ghastly  preparations  were  com- 
pleted ;  and  in  the  greedy  eyes  of  Jewish  hatred  the 
Saviour,  whom  they  had  hunted  to  death  with  the 
ferocity  of  bloodhounds,  was  exposed  to  full  view. 
But  the  first  triumphant  glance  of  priests,  Pharisees 
and  populace  met  with  a  violent  check  ;  for  above 
the  Victim's  head  they  saw  something  which  cut 
them  to  the  heart. 

The  practice  of  affixing  to  the  apparatus  of  execu- 
tion a  description  of  the  crime  prevails  in  some 
countries  to  this  day.  In  the  Life  of  Gilmour  of 
Mongolia  there  is  a  description  of  an  execution 
which  he  witnessed  in  China  ;  and  in  the  cart  which 
conveyed  the  condemned  man  to  the  scene  of  death 
a  board  was  exhibited  describing  his  misdeeds. 
The  custom  was  a  Roman  one  ;  and,  besides,  there 
was  generally  an  official  who  walked  in  front  of  the 
procession  of  death  and  proclaimed  the  crimes  of 
the  condemned.  No  mention,  however,  of  such  a 
functionary  appears  in   the   Gospels  ;  nor  does  the 

ferred  to  the  Cross  the  nobler  ideas  embodied  in  the  mystic  tree 
Igdrasil  ;  and  one  of  the  commonest  ideas  of  the  mystical  writers 
of  the  Middle  Ages  is  the  identification  of  the  Cross  as  both  the 
true  tree  of  life  and  the  true  tree  of  knowledge. 


lyo  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

inscription  appear  to  have  been  visible  to  all  till  it 
was  affixed  to  the  cross.  It  was  fastened  to  the  top 
of  the  upright  beam  ;  and  Pilate  made  use  of  this 
opportunity  to  pay  out  the  Jews  for  the  annoyance 
they  had  caused  him.  He  had  parted  from  them  in 
anger,  for  they  had  humiliated  him  ;  but  he  sent 
after  them  that  which  should  be  a  drop  of  bitterness 
in  their  cup  of  triumph.  When  they  were  still  at 
his  judgment-seat,  his  last  blow  in  his  encounter 
with  them  had  been  to  pretend  to  be  convinced  that 
Jesus  really  was  their  king.  This  insult  he  now  pro- 
longed by  wording  the  inscription  thus  :  "  This  is 
Jesus,  the  King  of  the  Jews."  It  was  as  much  as  to 
say,  This  is  what  becomes  of  a  Jewish  king  ;  this  is 
what  the  Romans  do  with  him  ;  the  king  of  this 
nation  is  a  slave,  a  crucified  criminal  ;  and,  if  such 
be  the  king,  what  must  the  nation  be  whose  king 
he  is  ? 

So  enraged  were  the  Jews  that  they  sent  a  deputa- 
tion to  the  governor  to  entreat  him  to  alter  the 
words.  No  doubt  he  was  delighted  to  see  them  ; 
for  their  coming  proved  how  thoroughly  his  sar- 
casm had  gone  home.  He  only  laughed  at  their 
petition  and,  assuming  the  grand  air  of  authority 
which  became  no  man  so  well  as  a  Roman,  dismissed 
them  with  the  words,  "  What  I  have  written  I  have 
written." 


CALVARY  171 


This  looked  like  strength  of  will  and  character  ; 
but  it  was  in  reality  only  a  covering  for  weakness. 
He  had  his  will  about  the  inscription — a  trifle  ;  but 
they  had  their  will  about  the  crucifixion.  He  was 
strong  enough  to  browbeat  them,  but  he  was  not 
strong  enough  to  deny  himself. 

Yet,  though  the  inscription  of  Pilate  was  in  his 
own  mind  little  more  than  a  revengeful  jest,  there 
was  in  it  a  Divine  purpose.  "  What  I  have  written 
I  have  written,"  he  said  ;  but,  had  he  known,  he 
might  almost  have  said,  "  What  I  have  written  God 
has  written."  Sometimes- and  at  some  places  the 
atmosphere  is  so  charged  and  electric  with  the  Di- 
vine that  inspiration  alights  and  burns  on  every- 
thing ;  and  never  was  this  more  true  than  at  the 
cross.  Pilate  had  already  unconsciously  been  al- 
most a  prophet  when,  pointing  to  Jesus,  he  said, 
"  Behold  the  Man" — a  word  which  still  preaches  to 
the  centuries.  And  now,  after  being  a  speaking 
prophet,  he  becomes,  as  has  been  quaintly  re- 
marked, a  writing  one  too  ;  for  his  pen  was  guided 
by  a  supernatural  hand  to  indite  the  words,  "  This 
is  Jesus,  the  King  of  the  Jews." 

It   added    greatly   to    the    significance   of   the   in- 
scription  that  it  was  written  in  Hebrew  and  Greeks 
and   Latin.     What   Pilate   intended   thereby  was  to 
heighten   the   insult  ;    he   wished    all    the    strangers 


172  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

present  at  the  Passover  to  be  able  to  read  the  in- 
scription ;  for  all  of  them  who  could  read  at  all 
would  know  one  of  these  three  languages.  But 
Providence  intended  something  else.  These  are  the 
three  great  languages  of  the  ancient  world — the 
representative  languages.  Hebrew  is  the  tongue  of 
religion,  Greek  that  of  culture,  Latin  the  language 
of  law  and  government  ;  and  Christ  was  declared 
King  in  them  all.  On  His  head  are  many  crowns. 
He  is  King  in  the  religious  sphere — the  King  of  sal- 
vation, holiness  and  love  ;  He  is  King  in  the  realm 
of  culture — the  treasures  of  art,  of  song,  of  litera- 
ture, of  philosophy  belong  to  Him,  and  shall  yet  be 
all  poured  at  His  feet  ;  He  is  King  in  the  political 
sphere — King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords,  entitled 
to  rule  in  the  social  relationships,  in  trade  and  com- 
merce, in  all  the  activities  of  men.  We  see  not  yet, 
indeed,  all  things  put  under  Him  ;  but  every  day 
we  see  them  more  and  more  in  the  process  of  being 
put  under  Him.  The  name  of  Jesus  is  travelling 
everywhere  over  the  earth  ;  thousands  are  learning 
to  pronounce  it  ;  millions  are  ready  to  die  for  it. 
And  thus  is  the  unconscious  prophecy  of  Pilate  still 
being  fulfilled. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  GROUPS  ROUND  THE  CROSS 

IN  the  last  chapter  we  saw  the  Son  of  Man  nailed 
to  the  cursed  tree.  There  He  hung  for  hours, 
exposed,  helpless,  but  conscious,  looking  out  on  the 
sea  of  faces  assembled  to  behold  His  end.  On  the 
occasion  of  an  execution  a  crowd  gathers  outside 
our  jails  merely  to  see  the  black  flag  run  up  which 
signals  that  the  deed  is  done  ;  and  in  the  old  days 
of  public  executions  such  an  event  always  attracted 
an  enormous  crowd.  No  doubt  it  was  the  same  in 
Jerusalem.  When  Jesus  was  put  to  death,  it  was 
Passover  time,  and  the  city  was  filled  with  multi- 
tudes of  strangers,  to  whom  any  excitement  was 
welcome.  Besides,  the  case  of  Jesus  had  stirred 
both  the  capital  and  the  entire  country.* 

The  sight  which  the  crowd  had  come  to  see  was, 
we  now  know,  the  greatest  ever  witnessed  in  the 
universe.     Angels  and  archangels  were  absorbed  in 

*  Keim  strangely  surmises  that  there  was  no  great  crowd  ;  but 
this  is  impossible. 


T74  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

it  ;  millions  of  men  and  women  are  looking  back  to 
it  to-day  and  every  day.  But  what  impressions  did 
it  make  on  those  who  saw  it  at  the  time  ?  To  ascer- 
tain this,  let  us  look  at  three  characteristic  groups 
near  the  cross,  whose  feelings  were  shared  in  vary- 
ing degrees  by  many  around  them. 

I. 

Look,  first,  at  the  group  nearest  the  cross — that 
of  the  Roman  soldiers. 

In  the  Roman  army  it  seems  to  have  been  a  rule 
that,  when  executions  were  carried  out  by  soldiers, 
the  effects  of  the  criminals  fell  as  perquisites  to 
those  who  did  the  work.  Though  many  more  sol- 
diers were  probably  present  on  this  occasion,  the 
actual  details  of  fixing  the  beam,  handling  the  ham- 
mer and  nails,  hoisting  the  apparatus,  and  so  forth, 
in  the  case  of  Jesus,  fell  to  a  quaternion  of  them. 
To  these  four,  therefore,  belonged  all  that  was  on 
Him  ;  and  they  could  at  once  proceed  to  divide  the 
spoil,  because  in  crucifixion  the  victim  was  stripped 
before  being  affixed  to  the  cross — a  trait  of  revolting 
shame.*     A   large,    loose    upper   garment,    a    head- 

*  As,  however,  the  Jews  would  have  objected  to  this,  Eders- 
heim  argues — but  not  convincingly — that  there  must  have  been 
at  least  a  slight  covering. 


THE    GROUPS  ROUND    THE    CROSS  175 

dress  perhaps,  a  girdle  and  a  pair  of  sandals,  and, 
last  of  all,  an  under  garment,  such  as  Galilean  peas- 
ants were  wont  to  wear,  which  was  all  of  a  piece 
and  had  perhaps  been  knitted  for  Him  by  the  lov- 
ing fingers  of  His  mother — these  articles  became  the 
booty  of  the  soldiers.  They  formed  the  entire  prop- 
erty which  Jesus  had  to  leave,  and  the  four  soldiers 
were  His  heirs.  Yet  this  was  He  who  bequeathed 
the  vastest  legacy  that  ever  has  been  left  by  any 
human  being — a  legacy  ample  enough  to  enrich  the 
whole  world.  Only  it  was  a  spiritual  legacy — of 
wisdom,  of  influence,  of  example. 

The  soldiers,  their  ghastly  task  over,  sat  down  at 
the  foot  of  the  cross  to  divide  their  booty.  They 
obtained  from  it  not  only  profit  but  amusement  ; 
for,  after  dividing  the  articles  as  well  as  they  could, 
they  had  to  cast  lots  about  the  last,  which  they 
could  not  divide.  One  of  them  fetched  some  dice 
out  of  his  pocket — gambling  was  a  favourite  pastime 
of  Roman  soldiers — and  they  settled  the  difficulty 
by  a  game.  Look  at  them — chaffering,  chattering, 
laughing  ;  and,  above  their  heads,  not  a  yard  away, 
that  Figure.  What  a  picture  !  The  Son  of  God 
atoning  for  the  sins  of  the  w^orld,  whilst  angels  and 
glorified  spirits  crowd  the  walls  of  the  celestial  city 
to  look  down  at  the  spectacle  ;  and,  within  a  yard 
of    His    sacred     Person,    the    soldiers,    in    absolute 


176  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

apathy,  gambling  for  these  poor  shreds  of  cloth- 
ing !  So  much,  and  no  more,  did  they  perceive  of 
the  stupendous  drama  they  were  within  touch  of. 
For  it  is  not  only  necessary  to  have  a  great  sight  to 
make  an  impression  ;  quite  as  necessary  is  the  see- 
ing eye.  There  are  those  to  whom  this  earth  is 
sacred  because  Jesus  Christ  has  trodden  it  ;  the  sky 
is  sacred  because  it  has  bent  above  Him  ;  history  is 
sacred  because  His  name  is  inscribed  on  it  ;  the 
daily  tasks  of  life  are  all  sacred  because  they  can  be 
done  in  His  name.  But  are  there  not  multitudes, 
even  in  Christian  lands,  who  live  as  if  Christ  had 
never  lived,  and  to  whom  the  question  has  never 
occurred,  What  difference  does  it  make  to  us  that 
Jesus  died  in  this  world  of  which  we  are  inhabitants  ? 

II. 

Look  now  at  a  second  group,  much  more  numer- 
ous than  the  first,  consisting  of  the  members  of  the 
Sanhedrim. 

After  condemning  Jesus  in  their  own  court,  they 
had  accompanied  Him  through  stage  after  stage  of 
His  civil  trial,  until  at  last  they  secured  His  con- 
demnation at  the  tribunal  of  Pilate.  When  at  last 
He  was  handed  over  to  the  executioners,  it  might 
have  been  expected  that  they  would  have  been  tired 


THE    GROUPS  ROUXD    THE    CROSS  177 

of  the  lengthy  proceedings  and  glad  to  escape  from 
the  scene.  But  thf^ir  passions  had  been  thoroughly- 
aroused,  and  their  thirst  for  revenge  was  so  deep 
that  they  could  not  allow  the  soldiers  to  do  their 
own  work,  but,  forgetful  of  dignity,  accompanied 
the  crowd  to  the  place  of  execution  and  stayed  to 
glut  their  eyes  with  the  spectacle  of  their  Victim's 
sufferings.  Even  after  He  was  lifted  up  on  the  tree, 
they  could  not  keep  their  tongues  off  Him  or  give 
Him  the  dying  man's  privilege  of  peace  ;  but,  los- 
ing all  sense  of  propriety,  they  made  insulting  ges- 
tures and  poured  on  Him  insulting  cries.  Naturally 
the  crowd  followed  their  example,  till  not  only  the 
soldiers  took  it  up,  but  even  the  thieves  who  were 
crucified  with  Him  joined  in.  So  that  the  crowd 
under  His  eyes  became  a  sea  of  scorn,  whose  angry 
waves  dashed  up  about  His  cross. 

The  line  taken  was  to  recall  all  the  great  names 
which  He  had  claimed,  or  which  had  been  applied 
to  Him,  and  to  contrast  them  with  the  position  in 
which  He  now  was.  "  The  Son  of  God,"  "  The 
Cliosen  of  God,"  "  The  King  of  Israel,"  "  The 
Christ,""  "  The  King  of  the  Jews,"  "  Thou  that  de- 
stroyest  the  temple  and  buildest  it  in  three  days" — 
with  these  epithets  they  pelted  Him  in  every  tone  of 
mockery.  They  challenged  Him  to  come  down 
from   the  cross  and  they  would  believe  Him.     This 


178  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

was  their  most  persistent  cry — He  had  saved  others, 
but  Himself  He  could  not  savef  They  had  always 
maintained  that  it  was  by  the  power  of  devils  He 
wrought  His  miracles  ;  but  these  evil  powers  are 
dangerous  to  palter  with  ;  they  may  lend  their  vir- 
tue for  a  time,  but  at  last  they  appear  to  demand 
their  price  ;  at  the  most  critical  moment  they  leave 
him  who  has  trusted  them  in  the  lurch.  This  was 
what  had  happened  to  Jesus  ;  now  at  last  the  wiz- 
ard's wand  was  broken  and  He  could  charm  no 
mo-re. 

As  they  thus  poured  out  the  gall  which  had  long 
been  accumulating  in  their  hearts,  they  did  not  no- 
tice that,  in  the  multitude  of  their  words,  they  were 
using  the  very  terms  attributed  in  the  twenty-second 
Psalm  to  the  enemies  of  the  holy  Sufferer  :  "  He 
trusted  in  God  ;  let  Him  deliver  Him  now,  if  He 
will  have  Him  ;  for  He  said,  I  am  the  Son  of  God." 
Cold-blooded  historians  have  doubted  whether  they 
could  have  made  such  a  slip  without  noticing  it  ; 
but,  strange  to  say,  there  is  an  exact  modern  paral- 
lel. When  one  of  the  Swiss  reformers  was  pleading 
before  the  papal  couit,  the  president  interrupted 
him  with  the  very  words  of  Caiaphas  to  the  San- 
hedrim :  "  He  hath  spoken  blasphemy  :  what  fur- 
ther need  have  we  of  witnesses  ?  What  think  ye  ?" 
and   they  all   answered,  "  He   is  worthy  of  death"  ; 


THE   GROUPS  ROVXD    THE    CROSS  179 

without  noticing,  till  he  reminded  them,  that  they 
were  quoting  Scripture.* 

Jesus  might  have  answered  the  cries  of  His  ene- 
mies";  because  to  one  hanging  on  the  cross  it  was 
possible  not  only  to  hear  and  see,  but  also  to  speak. 
However,  He  answered  never  a  word — "  when  He 
was  reviled.  He  reviled  not  again,"  "  as  a  sheep  be- 
fore her  shearers  is  dumb,  so  He  opened  not  His 
mouth."  This  was  not,  however,  because  He  did 
not  feel.  More  painful  than  the  nails  which  pierced 
His  body  were  these  missiles  of  malice  shot  at  His 
mind.  The  human  heart  laid  bare  its  basest  and 
blackest  depths  under  His  very  eyes  ;  and  all  its 
foul  scum  was  poured"  over  Him. 

Was  it  a  temptation  to  Him,  one  wonders,  when 
so  often  from  every  side  the  invitation  was  given 
Him  to  come  down  from  the  cross  ?  This  was  sub- 
stantially the  same  temptation  as  was  addressed  to 
Him  at  the  opening  of  His  career,  when  Satan 
urged  Him  to  cast  Himself  from  the  pinnacle  of  the 
temple.  It  had  haunted  Him  in  various  forms  all  His 
life  through.  And  now  it  assails  Him  once  more  at 
the  crisis  of  His  fate.  They  thought  His  patience 
was  impotence  and  His  silence  a  confession  of  de- 
feat.    Why  should  He  not  let  His  glory  blaze  forth 

*  Siiskind,  Passionsschule,  in  loc. 


I  So  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE  JESUS  CHRIST 


and  confound  them  ?  How  easily  He  could  have 
done  it  !  Yet  no  ;  He  could  not.  They  were  quite 
right  when  they  said,  "  He  saved  others,  Himself 
He  cannot  save."  Had  He  saved  Himself,  He 
would  not  have  been  the  Saviour.  Yet  the  power 
that  kept  Him  on  the  cross  was  a  far  mightier  one 
than  would  have  been  necessary  to  leave  it.  It  was 
not  by  the  nails  through  His  hands  and  feet  that 
He  was  held,  nor  by  the  ropes  with  which  His  arms 
were  bound,  nor  by  the  soldiers  watching  Him  ;  no, 
but  by  invisible  bands — by  the  cords  of  redeeming 
love  and  by  the  constraint  of  a  Divine  design. 

Of  this,  however,  His  enemies  had  no  inkling. 
They  were  judging  Him  by  the  most  heathenish 
standard.  They  had  no  idea  of  power  but  a  mate- 
rial one,  or  of  glory  but  a  selfish  one.  The  Saviour 
of  their  fancy  was  a  political  deliverer,  not  One  who 
could  save  from  sin.  And  to  this  day  Christ  hears 
the  cry  from  more  sides  than  one,  "  Come  down 
from  the  cross,  and  we  will  believe  Thee."  It 
comes  from  the  spiritually  shallow,  who  have  no 
sense  of  their  own  unworthiness  or  of  the  majesty 
and  the  rights  of  a  holy  God.  They  do  not  under- 
stand a  theology  of  sin  and  punishment,  of  atone- 
ment and  redemption  ;  and  all  the  deep  significance 
of  His  death  has  to  be  taken  out  of  Christianity  be- 
fore  they  will   believe   it.     It  comes,  too,  from   the 


THE    GROUPS  ROUND    THE    CROSS  l8l 

morally  cowardly  and  the  worldly-minded,  who  de- 
sire a  religion  without  the  cross.  If  Christianity 
were  only  a  creed  to  believe,  or  a  worship  in  whose 
celebration  the  aesthetic  faculty  might  take  delight, 
or  a  private  path  by  which  a  man  might  pilgrim  to 
heaven  unnoticed,  they  would*  be  delighted  to  be- 
lieve it  ;  but,  because  it  means  confessing  Christ 
and  bearing  His  reproach,  mingling  with  His  de- 
spised people  and  supporting  His  cause,  they  will 
have  none  of  it.  None  can  honour  the  cross  of 
Christ  w^ho  have  not  felt  the  humiliation  of  guilt  and 
entered  into  the  secret  of  humility. 

HI. 

Let  our  attention  now  be  directed  to  a  third 
group.     And  again  it  is  a  comparatively  small  one. 

As  the  eyes  of  Jesus  wandered  to  and  fro  over  the 
sea  of  faces  upturned  to  His  own — faces  charged 
with  every  form  and  degree  of  hatred  and  contempt 
— was  there  no  point  on  which  they  could  linger 
with  satisfaction  ?  Yes,  among  the  thorns  there 
was  one  lily.  On  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd  there 
stood  a  group  of  His  acquaintances  and  of  the 
women  who  followed  Him  from  Galilee  and  minis- 
tered unto  Him.  Let  us  enumerate  their  honoured 
names,  as  far  as  they  have  been  preserved — "  Mary 


1 82  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Magdalene,  and  Mary  the  mother  of  James  and 
Joses,  and  the  mother  of  Zebedee's  children." 

Their  position,  "  afar  off,"  probably  indicates  that 
they  were  in  a  state  of  fear.  It  was  not  safe  to  be 
too  closely  identified  with  One  against  whom  the 
authorities  cherished^such  implacable  feelings  ;  and 
they  may  have  been  quite  right  not  to  make  them- 
selves too  conspicuous.  Apart  from  the  danger  to 
which  they  might  be  exposed,  they  had  a  whole 
tempest  of  trouble  in  their  hearts.  As  yet  they 
knew  not  the  Scriptures  that  He  must  rise  again 
from  the  dead  ;  and  this  collapse  of  the  cause  in 
which  they  had  embarked  their  all  for  time  and  for 
eternity  was  a  bewildering  calamity.  They  had 
trusted  that  it  had  been  He  who  should  have  re- 
deemed Israel,  and  that  He  would  live  and  reign 
over  the  redeemed  race  forever.  And  there  He 
was,  perishing  before  their  eyes  in  defeat  and 
shame.  Their  faith  was  at  the  very  last  ebb.  Or 
say,  rather,  it  survived  only  in  the  form  of  love. 
Bewildered  as  were  their  ideas.  He  had  as  firm  a 
hold  as  ever  on  their  hearts.  They  loved  Him  ; 
they  suffered  with  Him  ;  they  could  have  died  for 
Him. 

May  we  not  believe  that  the  eyes  of  Jesus,  as  long 
as  they  were  able  to  see,  turned  often  away  from  the 
brutal  soldiers  beneath  His  feet,  and  from  the  sea  of 


THE    GROUPS  ROUND    THE    CROSS  183 

distorted  faces,  to  this  distant  group  ?  In  some  re- 
spects, indeed,  their  aspect  might  be  more  trying  to 
Him  than  even  the  hateful  faces  of  His  enemies  ; 
for  sympathy  will  sometimes  break  down  a  strong 
heart  that  is  proof  against  opposition.  Yet  this 
neighbourly  sympathy  and  womanly  love  must,  on 
the  whole,  have  been  a  profound  comfort  and  sup- 
port. He  was  sustained  all  through  His  sufferings 
by  the  thought  of  the  multitudes  without  number 
who  would  benefit  from  what  He  was  enduring  ; 
but  here  before  His  eyes  was  an  earnest  of  His 
reward  ;  and  in  them  He  saw  of  the  travail  of  His 
soul  and  was  satisfied. 

In  these  three  groups,  then,  we  see  three  pre- 
dominant states  of  mind — in  the  soldiers  apathy,  in 
the  Sanhedrim  antipathy,  in  the  Galileans  sympa- 
thy. 

Has  it  ever  occurred  to  you  to  ask  in  which  group 
you  would  have  been  had  you  been  there  ?  This  is 
a  searching  question.  Of  course  it  is  easy  now  to 
say  which  were  right  and  which  were  wrong.  It  is 
always  easy  to  admire  the  heroes  and  the  causes  of 
bygone  days  ;  but  it  is  possible  to  do  so  and  yet  be 
apathetic  or  antipathetic  to  those  of  our  own. 
Even  the  Roman  soldiers  at  the  foot  of  the  cross 
admired    Romulus    and    Cicinnnatus    and    Brutus, 


184  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

though  they  had  no  feeling  for  One  at  their  side 
greater  than  these.  The  Jews  who  were  mock- 
ing Christ  admired  Moses  and  Samuel  and  Isaiah, 
Christ  is  still  bearing  His  cross  through  the  streets 
of  the  world,  and  is  hanging  exposed  to  contempt 
and  ill-treatment  ;  and  it  is  possible  to  admire  the 
Christ  of  the  Bible  and  yet  be  persecuting  and  op- 
posing the  Christ  of  our  own  century.  The  Christ 
of  to-day  signifies  the  truth,  the  cause,  the  princi- 
ples of  Christ,  and  the  men  and  women  in  whom 
these  are  embodied.  We  are  either  helping  or  hin- 
dering those  movements  on  which  Christ  has  set 
His  heart  ;  often,  without  being  aware  of  it,  men 
choose  their  sides  and  plan  and  speak  and  act  either 
for  or  against  Christ.  This  is  the  Passion  of  our 
own  day,  the  Golgotha  of  our  own  city. 

But  it  comes  nearer  than  this.  The  living  Christ 
Himself  is  still  in  the  world  :  He  comes  to  every 
door  ;  Hio  Spirit  strives  with  every  soul.  And  He 
still  meets  with  these  three  kinds  of  treatment- 
apathy,  antipathy,  sympathy.  As  a  magnet,  pass- 
ing over  a  heap  of  objects,  causes  those  to  move 
and  spring  out  of  the  heap  wdiich  are  akin  to  itself, 
so  redeeming  love,  as  revealed  in  Christ,  passing 
over  the  surface  of  mankind  century  after  century, 
has  the  power  so  to  move  human  hearts  to  the  very 
depths   that,  kindling  with   admiration   and   desire. 


THE    GROUPS  ROUND    THE    CROSS  1S5 

they  spring  up  and  attach  themselves  to  Him.  This 
response  may  be  called  faith,  or  love,  or  spirituality, 
or  what  you  please  ;  but  it  is  the  very  test  and 
touchstone  of  eternity,  for  it  is  separating  men  and 
women  from  the  mass  and  making  them  one  forever 
with  the  life  and  the  love  of  God. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

THE  FIRST  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS* 

IN  the  last  chapter  we  saw  the  impressions  made 
by  the  crucifixion  on  the  different  groups  round 
the  cross.  On  the  soldiers,  who  did  the  deed,  it 
made  no  impression  at  all  ;  they  were  absolutely 
blind  to  the  wonder  and  glory  of  the  scene  in  which 
they  were  taking  part.  On  the  members  of  the 
Sanhedrim,  and  the  others  who  thought  with  them, 
it  had  an  extraordinary  effect  :  the  perfect  revela- 
tion of  goodness  and  spiritual  beauty  threw  them 
into  convulsions  of  angry  opposition.  Even  the 
group  of  the  friends  of  Jesus,  standing  afar  off,  saw 
only  a  very  little  way  into  the  meaning  of  what  was 
taking  place  before  their  eyes  :  the  victory  of  their 
Master  over  sin,  death  and  the  world  appeared  to 
them  a  tragic  defeat.  So  true  is  it,  as  I  said,  that, 
when  something  grand  is  to  be  seen,  there  is  re 
quired  not  only  the  object  but  the  seeing  eye.      The 

*  "  Father,  forgive  them  ;  for  thfey  know  not  what  they  do." 


THE   FIRST    WORD  FROM    THE    CROSS       187 

image  in  a  mirror  depends  not  only  on  the  object 
reflected  but  on  the  quality  and  the  configuration  of 
the  glass. 

We  wish,  however,  to  see  the  scene  enacted  on 
Calvary  in  its  true  shape  ;  and  where  shall  we 
look  ?  There  was  one  mind  there  in  which  it  was 
mirrored  with  perfect  fidelity.  If  we  could  see  the 
image  of  the  crucifixion  in  the  mind  of  Jesus  Him- 
self, this  would  reveal  its  true  meaning. 

But  in  what  way  can  we  ascertain  how  it  appeared 
to  Him,  as  from  His  painful  station  He  looked  forth 
upon  the  scene  ?  The  answer  is  to  be  found  in  the 
sentences  which  he  uttereli,  as  He  hung,  before  His 
senses  were  stifled  by  the  mists  of  death.  These 
are  like  windows  through  which  we  can  see  what 
was  passing  in  His  mind.  They  are  mere  frag- 
ments, of  course  ;  yet  they  are  charged  with  eternal 
significance.  Words  are  always  photographs,  more 
or  less  true,  of  the  mind  which  utters  them  ;  these 
were  the  truest  words  ever  uttered,  and  He  who 
uttered  them  stamped  on  them  the  image  of  Him- 
self. 

They  are  seven  in  number,  and  it  will  be  to  our 
advantage  to  linger  on  them  ;  they  are  too  precious 
to  be  taken  summarily.  The  sayings  of  the  dying 
are  always  impressive.  We  never  forget  the  death- 
bed utterances  of  a  parent  or  a  bosom  friend  ;  the 


1 88  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

last  words  of  famous  men  are  treasured  for  ever. 
In  Scripture  Jacob,  Joseph,  Moses,  and  other  patri- 
archal men  are  represented  as  having  risen  on  their 
deathbeds  far  above  themselves  and  spoken  in  the 
tones  of  a  higher  world  ;  and  in  all  nations  a  pro- 
phetic importance  has  been  attached  to  the  words 
of  the  dying.  Now,  these  are  the  dying  words  of 
Chiist  ;  and,  as  all  His  words  are  like  gold  to  sil- 
ver in  comparison  with  those  of  other  men,  so  these, 
in  comparison  with  the  rest  of  His  words,  are  as  dia- 
monds to  gold. 

In  the  First  Word  three  things  are  noticeable — 
the  Invocation,  the  Petition,  and  the  Argument. 


It  was  not  unusual  for  crucified  persons  to  speak 
on  the  cross  ;  but  their  words  usually  consisted  of 
wild  expressions  of  pain  or  bootless  entreaties  for 
release,  curses  agamst  God  or  imprecations  on  those 
who  had  inflicted  their  sufferings.  When  Jesus  had 
recovered  from  the  swooning  shock  occasioned  by 
the  driving  of  the  nails  into  His  hands  and  feet.  His 
first  utterance  was  a  prayer,  and  His  first  word 
"Father." 

Was    it    not    an    unintentional     condemnation    of 


THE   FIRST    WORD   FROM    T//F    CROSS        189 

those  who  had  affixed  Him  there  ?  It  was  in  the 
name  of  religion  they  had  acted  and  in  the  name  of 
God  ;  but  which  of  them  was  thus  impregnated 
through  and  through  with  religion  ?  which  of  them 
could  pretend  to  a  communion  with  God  so  close 
and  habitual  ?  Evidently  it  was  because  prayer  was 
the  natural  language  of  Jesus  that  at  this  moment  it 
leapt  to  His  lips.  It  is  a  suspicious  case  when  in 
any  trial,  especially  an  ecclesiastical  one,  the  con- 
demned is  obviously  a  better  man  than  the  judges. 

The  word  "  Father,"  further,  proved  that  the 
faith  of  Jesus  was  unshaken  by  all  through  which 
He  had  passed  and  by  that  which  He  was  now  en- 
during. When  righteousness  is  trampled  underfoot 
and  wrong  is  triumphant,  faith  is  tempted  to  ask  if 
there  is  really  a  God,  loving  and  wise,  seated  on  the 
throne  of  the  universe,  or  whether,  on  the  contrary, 
all  is  the  play  of  chance.  When  prosperity  is  turned 
suddenly  into  adversity  and  the  structure  of  the 
plans  and  hopes  of  a  life  is  tumbled  in  confusion  to 
the  ground,  even  the  child  of  God  is  apt  to  kick 
against  the  Divine  will.  Great  saints  have  been 
driven,  by  the  pressure  of  pain  and  disappointment, 
to  challenge  God's  righteousness  in  words  which  it 
is  not  lawful  for  a  man  to  utter.  But,  when  the  for- 
tunes of  Jesus  were  at  the  blackest,  when  He  was 
baited  by  a  raging  pack   of  wolf-like  enemies,  and 


190  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF JESCS  CHRIST 

when    He   was   sinking   into   unplumbed   abysses  of 
pain  and  desertion,  He  still  said  "  Father." 

It  was  the  apotheosis  of  faith,  and  to  all  time  it 
will  serve  as  an  example  ;  because  it  was  gloriously 
vindicated.  If  ever  the  hand  of  the  Creator  seemed 
to  be  withdrawn  from  the  rudder  of  the  universe, 
and  the  course  of  human  affairs  to  be  driving  down 
headlong  into  the  gulf  of  confusion,  it  was  when  He 
who  was  the  embodiment  of  moral  beauty  and  worth 
had  to  die  a  shameful  death  as  a  malefactor.  Could 
good  b}^  any  possibility  rise  out  of  such  an  abyss  of 
wrong  ?  The  salvation  of  the  world  came  out  of  it  ; 
all  that  is  noblest  in  history  came  out  of  it.  This  is 
the  supreme  lesson  to  God's  children  never  to  de- 
spair. All  may  be  dark  ;  everything  may  seem 
going  to  rack  and  ruin  ;  evil  may  seem  to  be  en- 
throned on  the  seat  of  God  ;  yet  God  liveth  ;  He 
sits  above  the  tumult  of  the  present  ;  and  He  will 
bring  forth  the  dawn  from  the  womb  of  the  dark- 
ness. 

II. 

The  prayer  which  followed  this  invocation  was 
still  more  remarkable  :  it  was  a  prayer  for  the  par- 
don of  His  enemies. 

In  the  foregoing  pages  we  have  seen  to  what  kind 
of  treatment   He  was  subjected  from   the  arrest  on- 


THE   FIRST    WORD  FROM    THE    CROSS       191 

wards — how  the  minions  of  authority  sttuck  and 
insulted  Him,  how  the  high  priests  twisted  the 
forms  of  law  to  ensnare  Him,  how  Herod  disdained 
Him,  how  Pilate  played  fast  and  loose  with  His  in- 
terests, how  the  mob  howled  at  Him.  Our  hearts 
have  burned  with  indignation  as  one  depth  of  base- 
ness has  opened  beneath  another  ;  and  we  have  been 
unable  to  refrain  from  using  hard  language.  The 
comment  of  Jesus  on  it  all  was,  "  Father,  forgive 
them." 

Long  ago,  indeed.  He  had  taught  men,  "  Love 
your  enemies,  bless  them  that  curse  you,  do  good 
to  them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for  them  which  de- 
spitefully  use  you  and  persecute  you."  But  this 
morality  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  had  been  con- 
sidered, as  the  world  still  inclines  to  consider  it,  a 
beautiful  dream.  There  have  been  many  teachers 
who  have  said  such  beautiful  things  ;  but  what  a 
difference  there  is  between  preaching  and  practice  ! 
When  you  have  been  delighted  with  the  sentiments 
of  an  author,  it  is  frequently  well  that  you  know  no 
more  about  him  ;  because,  if  you  chance  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  facts  of  his  own  life,  you  ex- 
perience a  painful  disillusionment.  Have  not  stu- 
dents even  of  our  own  English  literature  in  very 
recent  times  learned  to  be  afraid  to  read  the  biog- 
raphies of  literary  men,  lest  the  beautiful  structure 


192  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OE  TESUS  CHRIST 

of  sentiments  which  they  have  gathered  from  their 
writings  should  be  shattered  by  the  truth  about 
themselves  ?  But  Jesus  practised  what  He  taught. 
He  is  the  one  teacher  of  mankind  in  whom  the  sen- 
timent and  the  act  completely  coincide.  His  doc- 
trine was  the  very  highest  :  too  high  it  often  seems 
for  this  world.  But  how  much  more  practical  it  ap- 
pears when  we  see  it  in  action.  He  proved  that  it 
can  be  realised  on  earth  when  on  the  cross  He 
prayed,  "  Father,  forgive  them." 

Few  of  us,  perhaps,  know  what  it  is  to  forgive. 
We  have  never  been  deeply  wronged  ;  very  likely 
many  of  us  have  not  a  single  enemy  in  the  world. 
But  those  who  have  are  aware  how  difficult  it  is  ; 
perhaps  nothing  else  is  more  difficult.  Revenge  is 
one  of  the  sweetest  satisfactions  to  the  natural  heart. 
The  law  of  the  ancient  world  was,  at  least  in  prac- 
tice, "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  and  hate  thine 
enemy."  Even  saints,  in  the  Old  Testament,  curse 
those  who  have  persecuted  and  wronged  them  in 
terms  of  uncompromising  severity.  Had  Jesus  fol- 
lowed these  and,  as  soon  as  He  was  able  to  speak, 
uttered  to  His  Father  a  complaint  in  which  the  con- 
duct of  His  enemies  was  branded  in  the  terms  it  de- 
''  served,  who  would  have  ventured  to  find  fault  with 
Him  ?  Even  in  that  there  might  have  been  a  reve- 
lation of  God  ;  because  in  the   Divine  nature  there 


THE   FIRST    WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS        193 

is  a  fire  of  wrath  against  sin.  But  how  poor  would 
such  a  revelation  have  been  in  comparison  with  the 
one  which  He  now  made.  All  His  life  He  was  re- 
vealing God  ;  but  now  His  time  was  short  ;  and  it 
was  the  very  highest  in  God  He  had  to  make  known. 
In  this  word  Christ  revealed  Himself  ;  but  at  the 
same  time  He  revealed  the  Father.  All  His  life 
long  the  Father  was  in  Him,  but  on  the  cross  the 
divine  life  and  character  flamed  in  His  human  na- 
ture like  the  fire  in  the  burning  bush.  It  uttered 
itself  in  the  words,  "  Father,  forgive  them"  ;  and 
what  did  it  tell  ?     It  told  that  God  is  love. 


III. 


The  expiring  Saviour  backed  up  His  prayer  for 
the  forgiveness  of  His  enemies  with  the  argument — 
**  For  they  know  not  what  they  do." 

This  allows  us  to  see  further  still  into  the  divine 
depths  of  His  love.  The  injured  are  generally  alive 
only  to  their  own  side  of  the  case  ;  and  they  see 
only  those  circumstances  which  tend  to  place  the 
conduct  of  the  opposite  party  in  the  worst  light. 
But  at  the  moment  when  the  pain  inflicted  by  His 
enemies  was  at  the  worst  Jesus  was  seeking  excuses 
for  their  conduct. 

The  question  has  been  raised  how  far  the  excuse 


194  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  • 

which  He  made  on  their  behalf  applied.  Could  it 
be  said  of  them  all  that  they  knew  not  what  they 
were  doing  ?  Did  not  Judas  know  ?  did  not  the 
high  priests  know  ?  did  not  Herod  know  ?  Appar- 
ently it  was  primarily  to  the  soldiers  who  did  the 
actual  work  of  crucifixion  that  Jesus  referred  ;  be- 
cause it  was  in  the  very  midst  of  their  work  that  the 
words  were  uttered,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  narrative 
of  St.  Luke.  The  soldiers,  the  rude  uninstructed 
instruments  of  the  government,  were  the  least  guilty 
among  the  assailants  of  Jesus.  Next  to  them,  per- 
haps, came  Pilate  ;  and  there  were  different  stages 
and  degrees  down,  through  Herod  and  the  San- 
hedrim, to  the  unspeakable  baseness  of  Judas.  But 
St.  Peter,  in  the  beginning  of  Acts,  expressly  ex- 
tends the  plea  of  ignorance  so  far  as  to  cover  even 
the  Sanhedrists — "  And  now,  brethren,  I  wot  that 
through  ignorance  ye  did  it,  as  did  also  your  rulers" 
— and  who  will  believe  that  the  heart  of  the  Saviour 
was  less  comprehensive  than  that  of  the  disciple  ? 

Let  us  not  be  putting  limits  to  the  divine  mercy. 
It  is  true  of  every  sinner,  in  some  measure,  that  he 
knows  not  what  he  does.  And  to  a  true  penitent, 
as  he  approaches  the  throne  of  mercy,  it  is  a  great 
consolation  to  be  assured  that  this  plea  will  be  al- 
lowed. Penitent  St.  Paul  was  comforted  with  it  : 
"  God  had  mercy  on  me,  because  I  did  it  ignorantly 


THE   FIRST    WORD  FROM    THE    CROSS       195 

in  unbelief."  God  knows  all  our  weakness  and 
blindness  ;  men  will  not  make  allowance  for  it  or 
even  understand  it  ;  but  He  will  understand  it  all, 
if  we  come  to  hide  our  guilty  head  in  His  bosom. 

Of  course  this  blessed  truth  may  be  perverted  by 
an  impenitent  heart  to  its  own  undoing.  There  is 
no  falser  notion  than  that  expressed  in  the  French 
proverb,  Tout  cojuprendre  est  tout  pardoiuier  (To 
understand  everything  is  to  pardon  everything), 
for  it  means  that  man  is  the  mere  creature  of  cir- 
cumstances and  has  no  real  responsibility  for  his 
actions.  How  far  our  Lord  was  from  this  way  of 
thinking  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  He  said,  "  For- 
give them."  He  knew  that  they  needed  forgive- 
ness ;  which  implies  that  they  were  guilty.  Indeed, 
it  was  His  vivid  apprehension  of  the  danger  to  which 
their  guilt  exposed  them  that  made  Him  forget  His 
own  sufferings  and  fling  Himself  between  them  and 
their  fate. 

It  has  been  asked,  Was  this  prayer  answered  ? 
were  the  crucifiers  of  Jesus  forgiven  ?  To  this  it 
may  be  replied  that  a  prayer  for  forgiveness  cannot 
be  answered  without  the  co  operation  of  those 
prayed  for.  Unless  they  repent  and  seek  pardon 
for  themselves,  how  can  God  forgive  them  ?  The 
prayer  of  Jesus,  therefore,  meant  that  time  should 


196  THE   TRIAL  AND  DBA  TH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

be  granted  them  for  repentance,  and  that  they 
should  be  plied  with  providences  and  with  preach- 
ing, to  awaken  their  consciences.  To  punish  so  ap- 
palling a  crime  as  the  crucifixion  of  His  Son,  God 
might  have  caused  the  earth  to  open  on  the  spot 
and  swallow  the  sinners  up.  But  no  judgment  of 
the  kind  took  place.  As  Jesus  had  predicted,  Jeru- 
salem perished  in  indescribable  throes  of  agony  ; 
but  not  till  forty  years  after  His  death  ;  and  in  this 
interval  the  pouring  out  of  the  Spirit  at  Pentecost 
took  place,  and  the  apostles  began  their  preaching 
of  the  kingdom  at  Jerusalem,  urgently  calling  the 
nation  to  repentance.  Nor  was  their  work  in  vain  ; 
for  thousands  believed.  Even  before  the  scene  of 
the  crucifixion  terminated,  one  of  the  two  thieves 
crucified  along  with  Jesus,  who  had  taken  pait  in 
reviling  Him,  was  converted  ;  and  the  centurion 
who  superintended  the  execution  confessed  Him  as 
the  Son  of  God.  After  all  was  over,  multitudes 
who  had  beheld  the  sight  went  away  smiting  their 
breasts.*  We  have  no  reason  to  doubt,  therefore, 
that  even  in  this  direct  sense  the  prayer  received  an 
abundant  answer. 

But  this  w^as   a  prayer  of  a  kind  which  may  also 
be   answered    indirectly.     Besides  the    effect  which 

*  Luke  xxiii.  48. 


THE   FIRST    WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS       197 

prayer  has  in  procuring  specific  petitions,  it  acts 
reflexly  on  the  spirit  of  the  person  who  offers  it, 
calming,  sweetening,  invigorating.  Although  some 
erroneously  regard  this  as  the  only  real  answer  that 
prayer  can  receive,  denying  that  God  can  be  moved 
by  our  petitions,  yet  we,  who  believe  that  more 
things  are  wrought  by  prayer,  ought  not  to  over- 
look this.  By  praying  that  His  enemies  might  be 
forgiven,  Jesus  was  enabled  to  drive  back  the  spirits 
of  anger  and  revenge  which  tried  to  force  their  way 
into  His  bosom,  and  preserved  undisturbed  the 
serenity  of  His  soul.  To  ask  God  to  forgive  them 
was  the  triumphant  ending  of  His  own  effort  to  for- 
give ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  forgive  without  a  deli- 
cious sense  of  deliverance  and  peace  being  shed 
abroad  in  the  forgiving  heart. 

May  we  not  add  that  part  of  the  answer  to  this 
prayer  has  been  its  repetition  age  after  age  by  the 
persecuted  and  wronged  ?  St.  Stephen  led  the  way, 
in  the  article  of  death  praying  meekly  after  the  fash- 
ion of  his  Master,  "  Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their 
charge."  Hundreds  have  followed.  And  day  by 
day  this  prayer  is  diminishing  the  sum  of  bitterness 
and  increasing  the  amount  of  love  in  the  world. 


CHAPTER   XV. 
THE  SECOND  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS* 


IT  is  not  said  by  whose  arrangement  it  was  that 
Jesus  was  hung  between  the  two  thieves.  It 
may  have  been  done  by  order  of  Pilate,  who  wished 
in  this  way  to  add  point  to  the  witticism  which  he 
had  put  into  the  inscription  above  the  cross  ;  or  the 
arrangement  may  have  been  due  to  the  Jewish  offi- 
cials, who  followed  their  Victim  to  Golgotha  and 
may  have  persuaded  the  soldiers  to  give  Him  this 
place,  as  an  additional  insult  ;  or  the  soldiers  may 
have  done  it  of  their  own  accord,  simply  because 
He  was  obviously  the  most  notable  of  their  pris- 
oners. 

The  likelihood  is  that  there  was  malice  in  it.  Yet 
there  was  a  divine  purpose  behind  the  wrath  of 
man.     Again  and  again  one  has  to  remark  how,  in 


*  "  To-day  shall  thou  be  with  Me  in  Paradise." 


^j.. 


THE    SECOND    WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS     199 

these  last  scenes,  every  shred  of  action  and  every 
random  word  aimed  at  Jesus  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
juring and  dishonouring  Him  so  turned,  instead,  to 
honour,  that  in  our  eyes,  now  looking  back,  it  shines 
on  Him  like  a  star.  As  a  fire  catches  the  lump  of 
dirty  coal  or  clot  of  filth  that  is  flung  into  it,  and 
converts  it  into  a  mass  of  light,  so  at  this  time 
there  was  that  about  Christ  which  transmuted  the 
very  insults  hurled  at  Him  into  honours  and 
charged  even  the  incidents  of  His  crucifixion  which 
were  most  trivial  in  themselves  with  unspeakable 
meaning.  The  crown  of  thorns,  the  purple  robe, 
Pilate's  Ecce  Homo,  the  inscription  on  the  cross, 
the  savage  cries  xDf  the  passers-by  and  other  similar 
incidents,  full  at  the  time  of  malice,  are  now  memo- 
ries treasured  by  all  who  love  the  Saviour. 

So  His  position  between  the  thieves  was  ordained 
by  God  as  well  as  by  men.  It  was  His  right  posi- 
tion. They  had  called  Him  long  before  "  a  friend 
of  publicans  and  sinners  ;"  and  now,  by  crucifying 
Him  between  the  thieves,  they  put  the  same  idea 
into  action.  As,  however,  that  nickname  has  be- 
come a  title  of  everlasting  honour,  so  has  this  insult- 
ing deed.  Jesus  came  to  the  world  to  identify  Him- 
self with  sinners  ;  their  cause  was  His,  and  He 
wrapped  up  His  fate  with  theirs  ;  He  had  lived 
among  them,  and  it  was  meet  that  He   should   die 


200  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

among  them.  To  this  day  He  is  in  the  midst  of 
them  ;  and  the  strange  behaviour  of  the  two  be- 
tween whom  He  hung  that  day  was  a  prefigurement 
of  what  has  been  happening  every  day  since  :  some 
sinners  have  believed  on  Him  and  been  saved,  while 
others  have  believed  not  :  to  the  one  His  gospel  is  a 
savour  of  life  unto  life,  to  the  other  it  is  a  savour  of 
death  unto  death.  So  it  is  to  be  till  the  end  ;  and 
on  the  great  day  when  the  whole  history  of  this 
world  shall  be  wound  up  He  will  still  be  in  the 
midst  ;  and  the  penitent  will  be  on  the  one  hand 
and  the  impenitent  on  the  other. 

But  it  was  not  in  one  way  only  that  the  divine 
wisdom  overruled  for  high  ends  of  its  own  the 
humiliating  circumstance  that  Jesus  was  thus  reck- 
oned with  the  transgressors.  It  gave  Him  an  op- 
portunity of  illustrating,  at  the  very  last  moment, 
both  the  magnanimity  of  His  own  character  and  the 
nature  of  His  mission  ;  and  at  the  moment  when  He 
needed  it  most  it  supplied  Him  with  a  cup  of  what 
had  always  been  to  Him  the  supreme  joy  of  living — 
the  bliss  of  doing  good.  As  the  parable  of  the 
Prodigal  Son  is  an  epitome  of  the  whole  teaching  of 
Christ,  so  is  the  salvation  of  the  thief  on  the  cross 
the  life  of  Christ  in  miniature. 


THE    SECOA^D   WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS     201 

II. 

Both  thieves  appear  to  have  joined  in  taunting 
Jesus,  in  imitation  of  the  Sanhedrists.  This  has,  in- 
deed, been  doubted  or  denied  by  those,  of  whom 
there  have  been  many,  who  have  experienced  diffi- 
culty in  understanding  how  so  complete  a  revolu- 
tion as  the  conversion  of  the  penitent  thief  could 
take  place  in  so  short  a  time.  Two  of  the  Evangel- 
ists say  that  those  crucified  with  Him  reviled  Him  ; 
but  it  is  just  possible  grammatically  to  explain  this 
as  referring  only  to  one  of  them  ;  because  some- 
times an  action  is  attributed  to  a  class,  though  only 
one  person  of  the  class  has  done  it.*  The  natural 
interpretation,  however,  is  that  both  did  it.  It  is 
likely  enough,  indeed,  that  the  one  who  did  not  re- 
pent began  it,  and  that  the  other  joined  in,  less  of 
his  own  accord  than  in  imitation  of  his  reckless  as- 
sociate. Very  probably  this  was  not  the  first  time 
that  he  had  been  dragged  into  sin  by  the  same  at- 
traction. His  companion  may  have  been  his  evil 
genius,  who  had  ruined  his  life  and  brought  him  at 
last  to  this  shameful  end. 

It  was  an  awful  extreme  of  wickedness  to  be  en- 
gaged, so  near  their  own  end,  in  hurling  opprobri- 
ous words  at  a  fellow  sufferer.     Of  course,  the  very 

*  So  Augustin  and  many. 


202  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 


excess  of  pain  made  crucified  persons  reckless  ;  and 
to  be  engaged  doing  anything,  especially  anything 
violent,  helped  to  make  them  forget  their  agony. 
It  mattered  not  who  or  what  was  the  object  of  at- 
tack ;  they  were  reduced  to  the  condition  of  tor- 
tured animals  ;  and  the  trapped  brute  bites  at  any- 
thing which  approaches  it.  This  was  the  state  of 
the  impenitent  thief.  But  the  other  diew  back 
from  his  companion  with  horror.  The  very  excess 
of  sin  overleaped  itself  ;  and  for  the  first  time  he 
saw  how  vile  a  wretch  he  was.  This  was  brought 
home  to  him  by  the  contrast  of  the  patience  and 
peace  of  Jesus.  His  brutal  companion  had  hitherto 
been  his  ideal  ;  but  now  he  perceives  how  base 
is  his  ferocious  courage  in  comparison  with  the 
strength  of  Christ's  serene  endurance. 

The  desire  to  explain  away  the  suddenness  of  the 
conversion  has  led  to  all  sorts  of  conjectures  as  to 
the  possibility  of  previous  meetings  between  the 
thief  and  Christ.  It  is  quite  legitimate  to  dwell  on 
what  he  had  seen  of  the  behaviour  of  Jesus  from  the 
moment  when  they  were  brought  into  contact  in  the 
crucifixion.  He  had  heard  Him  pray  for  the  for- 
giveness of  His  enemies  ;  he  had  witnessed  His 
demeanour  on  the  way  to  Calvary  and  heard  His 
words  to  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  ;  the  very  cries 
of  His  enemies  round  the  cross,  when  they  case  in 


THE    SECOXD    WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS      203 

His  teeth  the  titles  which  He  had  claimed  or  which 
had  been  attributed  to  Him,  informed  him  what 
were  the  pretensions  of  Jesus  ;  perhaps  he  may  have 
witnessed  and  heard  the  trial  before  Pilate.  But, 
w^hen  we  attempt  to  go  further  back,  we  have  noth- 
ing solid  to  found  upon.  Had  he  'ever  heard  Jesus 
preach  ?  Had  he  witnessed  any  of  His  miracles  ? 
How  much  did  he  know  of  the  nature  of  His  King- 
dom, of  which  he  spoke  ?  Guesses  may  be  made  in 
answer  to  such  questions,  but  they  cannot  be  au- 
thenticated. I  should  be  inclined  with  more  confi- 
dence to  look  further  back  still.  He  may  have  come 
out  of  a  pious  home  ;  he  may  have  been  a  prodigal 
led  astiay  by  companions,  and  especially  by  the 
strong  companion  with  whom  he  was  now  associ- 
ated. As  there  was  a  weeping  mother  at  the  foot 
of  the  cross  of  Jesus,  there  may  have  been  a  heart- 
broken parent  at  the  foot  of  that  other  cross  also, 
whose  prayers  were  yet  going  to  be  answered  in  a 
way  surpassing  her  wildest  hopes. 

The  question  of  the  possibility  of  sudden  conver- 
sion is  generally  argued  with  too  much  excitement 
on  both  sides  to  allow  the  facts  to  be  recognised. 
Among  us  there  may,  in  one  sense,  be  said  to  be  no 
such  thing.  Suppose  anyone  leading  this  page, 
who  may  know  that  he  has  not  yet  with  his  whole 
heart  and  soul  turned  to  God,  were  to  do  so  before 


204  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

turning  the  next  leaf,  would  this  be  a  sudden  con- 
version ?  Why,  the  preparation  for  it  has  been 
going  on  for  years.  What  has  been  the  intention 
of  all  the  religious  instruction  which  you  have  re- 
ceived from  your  childhood,  of  the  prayers  offered 
on  your  behalf^  of  the  appeals  which  have  moved 
you,  of  the  strivings  of  God's  Spirit,  but  to  lead  up 
to  this  result  ?  Though  your  conversion  were  to 
take  place  this  very  hour,  it  would  only  be  the  last 
moment  of  a  process  which  has  gone  on  for  years. 
Yet  in  a  sense  it  would  be  sudden.  And  why 
should  it  not  ?  What  reason  is  there  why  your  re- 
turn to  God  should  be  further  postponed  ?  There 
are  two  experiences  in  religion  which  require  to  be 
carefully  distinguished  :  there  is  the  making  of  re- 
ligious impressions  on  us  by  others  from  the  outside 
— through  instruction,  example,  appeal  and  the  like  ; 
and  there  is  the  rise  of  religion  within  ourselves, 
when  we  turn  round  upon  our  impressions  and  make 
them  our  own.  The  former  experience  is  long  and 
slow,  but  the  latter  may  be  very  sudden  ;  and  a 
very  little    thing  may  bring  it  about. 

Another  way  in  w^hich  it  is  possible  to  minimise 
the  greatness  of  this  conversion  is  by  questioning 
the  guilt   of   the   man.*     When   he   is  called  a  thief, 

*  Schleiermacher    makes    much   of   this  ;  and,    indeed,    does 


THE    SECOND   WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS     205 

the  name  suggests  a  very  common  and  degraded 
sinner  ;  but  it  is  pointed  out  that  "  robber"  would 
be  the  correct  name,  and  that  probably  he  and  his 
companion  may  have  been  revolutionaries,  whose 
opposition  to  the  Roman  rule  had  driven  them  out- 
side the  pale  of  society,  where,  to  win  a  subsistence, 
they  had  to  resort  to  the  trade  of  highwaymen  ;  but 
in  that  country,  tyrannised  over  by  a  despotic  for- 
eign power,  those  who  attempted  to  raise  the  stand- 
ard of  revolt  were  sometimes  far  from  ignoble 
characters,  though  the  necessities  of  their  position 
betrayed  them  into  acts  of  violence.  There  is  truth 
in  this  ;  and  the  penitent  thief  may  not  have  been  a 
sinner  above  all  men.  But  his  own  words  to  his 
companion,  "  We  receive  the  due  reward  of  our 
deeds,"  point  the  other  way.  His  memory  was 
stained  with  acts  for  which  he  acknowledged  that 
death  was  the  lawful  penalty.  In  short,  there  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  either  that  he  was  a  great  sinner  or 
that  he  was  suddenly  changed.  And  therefore  his 
example  will  always  be  an  encouragement  to  the 
worst  of  sinners  when  they  repent.  It  is  common 
for  penitents  to  be  afraid  to  come  to  God,  because 

everything  in  his  power  to  minimise  the  moral  miracle.  The 
whole  sermon  is  a  specimen  of  his  worst  manner,  when  he  rides 
away  on  some  side  issue  and  fails  to  expound  the  great  central 
lessons  of  a  subject. 


2o6  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

their  sins  have  been  too  great  to  be  forgiven  ;  but 
those  who  are  encouraging  them  can  point  to  cases 
like  Manasseh,  and  Mary  Magdalene,  and  the  thief 
on  the  cross,  and  assure  them  that  the  mercy  which 
sufficed  for  these  is  sufficient  for  all  :  "  The  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ,  God's  Son,  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin." 
The  fear  of  those  who  endeavour  to  minimise  the 
wonderfulness  of  this  conversion  is  lest,  if  it  be 
allowed  that  a  man  of  the  worst  character  could 
undergo  so  complete  a  change  in  so  short  a  time  on 
the  very  verge  of  the  other  world,  men  may  be  in- 
duced to  put  off  their  own  salvation  in  the  hope  of 
availing  themselves  of  a  death-bed  repentance. 
This  is  a  just  fear  ;  and  the  grace  of  God  has  un- 
doubtedly been  sometimes  thus  abused.  But  it  is 
an  utter  abuse.  Those  who  allow  themselves  to  be 
deceived  with  this  reasoning  believe  that  they  can 
at  any  moment  command  penitence  and  faith,  and 
that  all  the  other  feelings  of  religion  will  come  to 
them  whenever  they  choose  to  summon  them.  But 
does  experience  lead  us  to  believe  this  ?  Are  not 
the  occasions,  on  the  contrary,  very  rare  when  re- 
ligion really  moves  irreligious  men 

"  We  cannot  kindle  when  we  will 
The  fire  that  in  the  soul  resides  : 
The  spirit  breatheth  and  is  still —  ^ 

In  mystery  the  soul  abides." 


THE    SECOXD    WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS     207 

Nor  is  it  by  any  means  a  uniform  experience  that 
the  approach  of  death  awakens  religious  anxiety. 
The  other  thief  is  a  solemn  warning.  Though  face 
to  face  with  death  and  in  such  close  proximity  to 
Jesus,  he  was  only  hardened  and  rendered  more 
leckless  than  ever.  And  this  is  far  more  likely  to 
be  the  fate  of  anyone  who  deliberately  quenches  the 
Spirit  because  he  is  trusting  to  a  death-bed  repent- 
ance. 

Yet  we  will  not  allow  the  possible  abuse  of  the 
truth  to  rob  us  of  the  glorious  testimony  contained 
in  this  incident  to  the  grace  of  God.  We  set  no 
limits  to  the  invitation  of  the  Saviour,  "  Him  that 
Cometh  unto  Me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  How- 
ever late  a  sinner  may  be  in  coming,  and  however 
little  time  he  may  have  in  which  to  come,  let  him 
only  come  and  he  will  not  be  cast  out.  There  is  no 
more  critical  test  of  theologies  and  theologians  than 
the  question  what  message  they  have  to  a  dying 
person  whose  sins  are  unforgiven.  If  the  salvation 
which  a  preacher  has  to  offer  is  only  a  course  of 
moral  improvement,  what  can  he  have  to  say  in  such 
a  place  ?  We  may  be  sure  that  our  gospel  is  not  the 
gospel  of  Him  who  comforted  the  penitent  thief, 
unless  we  are  able  to  offer  even  to  a  dying  sinner  a 
salvation  immediate,  joyful  and  complete. 

How  complete  the  revolution  was  in  the  penitent 


2o8  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 


thief  is  shown  by  his  own  words.  St.  Paul  in  one 
place  sums  up  Christianity  in  two  things — repent- 
ance towards  God  and  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  And  both  of  these  we  see  in  this  penitent's 
words.  His  repentance  towards  God  is  brought  out 
by  what  he  said  to  his  companion.  "  Dost  thou  not 
fear  God  ?"  he  asked.  He  had  himself  forgotten 
God,  no  doubt,  and  put  Him  far  away  in  the  sinful 
past.  But  now  God  was  near,  and  in  the  light  of 
God  he  saw  his  own  sinfulness.  He  confessed  it, 
doing  so  not  only  in  his  secret  mind  but  audibly. 
Thus  he  separated  himself  from  it,  as  he  did  also 
from  the  companion  who  had  led  him  astray,  when 
he  would  not  come  with  him  on  the  path  of  peni- 
tence. Not  less  distinctly  do  His  words  to  the  Sa- 
viour manifest  his  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
They  are  simple  and  humble  :  all  he  dared  to  ex- 
pect was  that,  when  Christ  came  into  His  kingdom, 
He  would  remember  him.  But  they  recognised  the 
glory  of  Christ  and  expressed  trust  in  Him.  At  the 
moment  when  the  religious  teachers  of  the  nations 
thought  that  they  had  for  ever  destroyed  Christ's 
claims,  and  even  His  own  disciples  had  forsaken 
Him,  this  poor  dying  sinner  believed  in  Him. 
"  How  clear,"  exclaims  Calvin,  "  was  the  vision  of 
the  eyes  which  could  thus  see  in  death  life,  in  ruin 
majesty,  in  shame  glory,  in  defeat  victory,  in  slavery 


THE    SECOND   WORD  FROM    THE    CROSS     209 

royalty.  I  question  if  ever  since  the  world  began 
there  has  been  so  bright  an  example  of  faith."  Lu- 
ther is  no  less  laudatory.  "This,"  says  he,  "was 
for  Christ  a  comfort  like  that  supplied  to  Him  by 
the  angel  in  the  garden.  God  could  not  allow  His 
Son  to  be  destitute  of  subjects,  and  now  His  Church 
survived  in  this  one  man.  Where  the  faith  of  St. 
Peter  broke  off,  the  faith  of  the  penitent  thief  com- 
menced." And  another  *  asks,  "Did  ever  the  new 
birth  take  place  in  so  strange  a  cradle  ?" 


III. 


It  is  worth  noting  that  it  was  not  by  words  that 
Jesus  converted  this  man.  He  did  not  address  the 
penitent  thief  at  all  till  the  thief  spoke  to  Him. 
The  work  of  conviction  was  done  before  He  uttered 
a  word.  Yet  it  was  His  work  ;  and  how  did  He  do 
it  ?  As  St.  Peter  exhorted  godly  wives  to  convert 
their  heathen  husbands,  when  he  wrote  to  them, 
"  Likewise,  ye  wives,  be  in  subjection  to  your  own 
husbands,  that,  if  any  obey  not  the  Word,  they  also 
may,  without  the  Word,  be  won  by  the  conversation 
(/>.,  behaviour)  of  the  wives,  while  they  behold 
your  chaste    conversation   coupled    with    fear."      It 

*  Tholuck. 


2IO  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

was  by  the  impression  of  His  patience,  His  inno- 
cence, His  peace,  and  His  magnanimity,  that  Jesus 
converted  the  man  ;  and  herein  He  has  left  us  an 
example  that  we  should  follow  in  His  steps. 

But  His  words,  when  He  did  speak,  added  im- 
mensely to  the  impression.  They  were  few,  but 
everyone  of  them  expressed  the  Saviour. 

The  robber  was  thinking  of  some  date  far  off 
when  Christ  might  intervene  in  his  behalf,  but 
Christ  says,  "  To  day."  This  was  a  prophecy  that 
he  would  die  that  day,  and  not  be  allowed  to  linger 
for  days,  as  crucified  persons  often  were  ;  and  this 
was  fulfilled.  But  it  was,  besides,  a  promise  that 
as  soon  as  death  launched  him  out  of  time  into  eter- 
nity, Christ  would  be  waiting  there  to  receive  him, 
"  To-day  thou  shalt  be  with  Me."  All  heaven  is  in 
these  two  last  words.  What  do  we  really  know  of 
heaven,  what  do  we  wish  to  know,  except  that  it  is 
to  be  "  with  Christ"  ?  Yet  a  little  more  was  added 
— "  in  Paradise."  Some  have  thought  that  in  this 
phrase  Christ  was  stooping  to  the  conceptions  of 
the  penitent  thief  by  using  a  popular  expression  for 
some  happy  place  in  the  other  world.*  At  least  the 
word,  which  means  a  garden  or  park  and  was   ap- 

*  "  In  Biblical  Hebrew  the  word  is  used  for  a  choice  garden 
but  in   the   LXX.  and   the  Apocalypse  it   is   already  used  in  oui 
sense  of  Paradise." — Edersheim. 


THE    SECOXD    WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS     211 

plied  to  the  abode  of  our  first  parents  in  Eden, 
could  not  but  call  up  in  the  consciousness  of  the 
dying  man  a  scene  of  beauty,  innocence  and  peace, 
where,  washed  clean  from  the  defilement  of  his  past 
errors,  he  would  begin  to  exist  again  as  ^  new 
creature.  Even  Christians  have  believed  that  the 
utmost  that  can  be  expected  in  the  next  world  by  a 
soul  with  a  history  like  the  robber's  is,  at  least  to 
begin  with,  to  be  consigned  to  the  fires  of  purga- 
tory. But  far  different  is  the  grace  of  Christ  :  great 
and  perfect  is  His  work,  and  therefore  ours  is  a  full 
salvation. 

This  second  word  from  the  cross  affords  a  rare 
glimpse  into  the  divine  glory  of  the  Saviour  ;  and  it 
is  all  the  more  impressive  that  it  is  indirect.  The 
thief,  in  the  most  solemn  circumstances,  spoke  to 
Him  as  to  a  King  and  prayed  to  Him  as  to  a  God.* 
And  how  did  He  respond  ?  Did  He  say,  "  Pray  not 
to  Me  ;  I  am  a  man  like  yourself,  and  I  know  as  lit- 
tle of  the  unknown  country  into  which  we  are  both 
about  to  enter  as  you  do"  ?  This  is  what  He  ought 
to  have  answered,  if  He  was  no  more  than  some 
make  Him  out  to  be.  But  He  accepted  the  homage 
of  His  petitioner  ;  He  spoke  of  the  world  unseen  as 

*  The  word  "  Lord"  in  the  robber's  speech  is,  however,  un- 
authentic. 


212   THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OE  JESUS' CHRIST 

of  a  place  native  and  familiar.  He  gave  him  to 
understand  that  He  possessed  as  much  influence 
there  as  he  attributed  to  Him.  This  great  sinner 
laid  on  Christ  the  weight  of  his  soul,  the  weight  of 
his  sins,  the  weight  of  his  eternity  ;  and  Christ  ac- 
cepted the  burden. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

THE  THIRD  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS* 

IN  the  life  of  our  Lord  from  first  to  last  there  is  a 
strange  blending  of  the  majestic  and  the  lowly. 
When  a  beam  of  His  divine  dignity  is  allowed  to 
shine  out  and  dazzle  us,  it  is  never  long  before  there 
ensues  some  incident  which  reminds  us  that  He  is 
bone  of  our  bone  and  flesh  of  our  flesh  ;  and,  con- 
trariwise, when  He  does  anything  which  impressive- 
ly brings  home  to  us  His  humanity,  there  always 
follows  something  to  remind  us  that  He  was  greater 
than  the  sons  of  men.  Thus  at  His  birth  He  was 
laid  in  a  manger  ;  yet  out  on  the  pastures  of  Bethle- 
hem angels  sang  His  praise.  Long  afterwards  He 
was  asleep  in  the  end  of  the  boat,  and  so  overcome 
with  fatigue  that  He  needed  to  be  awakened  to  real- 
ise His  danger  ;  but  immediately  He  rebuked  the 
winds  and  the  waves,  and  there  was  a  great  calm. 
When  He  saw  the  grief  of  Martha  and  Mary,  "  Jesus 

*  ■"  Woman,  behold  thy  son  .   .  .  Behold  thy  mother." 


214  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

wept"  ;  but  only  a  few  minutes  afterwards  He  cried, 
"  Lazarus,  come  forth,"  and  He  was  obeyed.  So 
it  was  to  the  very  last.  In  studying  the  Second 
Word  from  the  cross  we  saw  Him  opening  the  gates 
of  Paradise  to  the  penitent  thief  ;  to-day  the  Third 
Word  will  show  Him  to  us  as  the  Son  of  a  woman, 
concerned  in  His  dying  hour  for  her  bodily  suste- 
nance. 

I. 

The  eye  of  Jesus,  roving  over  the  multitude  whose 
component  parts  have  been  already  described,  light- 
ed on  His  mother  standing  at  the  foot  of  the  cross. 
In  the  words  of  the  great  mediaeval  hymn,  which  is 
known  to  all  by  its  opening  words,  Stabaf  mater^ 
and  from  the  fact  that  it  has  been  set  to  music  by 
such  masters  as  Palestrina,  Haydn  and  Rossini, 

"  Beside  the  cross  in  tears 

The  woeful  mother  stood, 
Bent  'neath  the  weight  of  years. 

And  viewed  His  flowing  blood  ; 
Her  mind  with  grief  was  torn, 

Her  strength  was  ebbing  fast, 
And  through  her  heart  forlorn 

The  sword  of  anguish  passed." 

When  she  carried  her  Infant  into  the  temple  in  the 
pride  of  young  motherhood,  the  venerable  Simeon 
foretold  that  a  sword  would  pierce  through  her  own 


THE    THIRD    WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS      215 

soul  also.  Often  perhaps  had  she  wondered,  in 
happy  days,  what  this  mysterious  prediction  might 
mean.  But  now  she  knew,  for  the  sword  was  smit- 
ing her,  stab  after  stab. 

It  is  always  hard  for  a  mother  to  see  her  son  die. 
She  naturally  expects  him  to  lay  her  head  in  the 
grave.  Especially  is  this  the  case  with  the  first- 
born, the  son  of  her  strength.  Jesus  was  only 
thirty-three,  and  Mary  must  have  reached  the  age 
when  a  mother  most  of  all  leans  for  support  on  a 
strong  and  loving  son. 

Far  worse,  however,  was  the  death  He  was 
dying — the  death  of  a  criminal.  Many  mothei"s 
have  had  to  suffer  from  the  kind  of  death  their  chil- 
dren have  died,  when  it  has  been  in  great  agony  or 
in  otherwise  distressing  circumstances.  But  what 
mother's  sufferings  were  ever  equal  to  Mary's  ? 
There  He  hung  before  her  eyes  ;  but  she  was  help- 
less. His  wounds  bled,  but  she  dared  not  stanch 
them  ;  His  mouth  was  parched,  but  she  could  not 
moisten  it.  These  outstretched  arms  used  to  clasp 
her  neck  ;  she  used  to  fondle  these  pierced  hands 
and  feet.  Ah  !  the  nails  pierced  her  as  well  as 
Him  ;  the  thorns  round  His  brow  weie  a  circle  of 
flame  about  her  heart  ;  the  taunts  flung  at  Him 
wounded  her  likewise. 

But  there  was  worse   still — the   sword  cut  deeper. 


2i6  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Had  not  the  angel  told  her  before  His  birth,  "  He 
shall  be  great,  and  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  the 
Highest,  and  the  Lord  God  shall  give  unto  Him  the 
throne  of  His  father  David  ;  and  He  shall  reign 
over  the  house  of  Jacob  for  ever  ;  and  of  His  king- 
dom there  shall  be  no  end"  ?  This  greatness,  this 
throne,  this  crown,  this  kingdom — where  were  they  ? 
Once  she  had  believed  that  she  really  was  what  the 
angel  had  called  her — the  most  blessed  of  women — 
when  she  saw  Him  lying  in  her  lap  in  His  beautiful 
infancy,  when  the  Shepherds  and  the  Magi  came  to 
adore  Him,  and  when  Simeon  and  Anna  recognised 
Him  as  the  Messiah.  After  that  ensued  the  long 
period  of  His  obscurity  in  Nazareth.  He  was  only 
the  village  carpenter  ;  but  she  did  not  weary,  for 
He  was  with  her  in  their  home  ;  and  she  was  confi- 
dent that  the  greatness,  the  throne,  the  crown,  the 
kingdom  would  all  come  in  good  time.  At  last  His 
hour  struck  ;  and,  casting  down  His  tools  and  bid- 
ding her  farew^ell.  He  went  forth  out  of  the  little 
valley  into  the  great  world.  It  is  all  coming  now, 
she  said.  Soon  the  news  arrived  of  the  words  of 
grace  and  power  He  was  speaking,  of  the  multi- 
tudes following  Him,  of  the  nation  being  roused, 
and  of  the  blind,  the  lame,  the  diseased,  the  be- 
reaved who  blessed  Him  for  giving  joy  back  to  their 
lives,  and   blessed   her  who   had   borne   Him.      It  is 


THE    THIRD    WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS       217 

all  coming  to  pass,  she  said.  But  then  followed 
other  news — of  reaction,  of  opposition,  of  persecu- 
tion. Her  heart  sank  within  her.  She  could  not 
stay  where  she  was.  She  left  Nazareth  and  went 
away  trembling  to  see  what  had  happened.  And 
now  she  stands  at  the  foot  of  His  cross.  He  is 
dying  ;  and  the  greatness,  the  glory,  and  the  king- 
dom have  never  come. 

What  could  it  mean  ?  Had  the  angel  been  a  de- 
ceiver, and  God's  word  a  lie,  and  all  the  wonders  of 
His  childhood  a  dream  ?  We  know  the  explanation 
now  :  Jesus  was  about  to  climb  a  far  loftier  throne 
than  Mary  had  ever  imagined,  and  the  cross  was  the 
only  road  to  it.  Before  many  weeks  were  over 
Mary  was  to  understand  this  too  ;  but  meantime  it 
must  have  been  dark  as  Egypt  to  her,  and  her  heart 
must  have  been  sorrowful  even  unto  death.  The 
sword  had  pierced  very  deep. 

n. 

There  were  other  women  with  Mary  beneath  the 
cross — two  of  them  Marys,  like  herself.*  As  an  an- 
cient father  f  has  said,  the  weaker  sex  on  this  occa- 
sion proved  itself  the  stronger.     When  the  apostles 

*  It  is  not  certain  whether  John  xix.  25  describes  three  women 
or  four.     Is  the  second  Salome,  John's  mother? 
f  Chfysostom. 


2i8  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

had  forsaken  their  Master  and  fled,  these  women 
were  true  to  the  last.  Perhaps,  indeed,  their  sex 
protected  them.  Women  can  venture  into  some 
places  where  men  dare  not  go  ;  and  this  is  a  talent 
which  many  women  have  used  for  rendering  ser- 
vices to  the  Saviour  which  men  could  not  have  per- 
formed. 

But  there  was  one  there  who  had  not  this  protec- 
tion, and  who  in  ventuiing  so  near  must  have  taken 
his  life  in  his  hand.  St.  John,  I  suppose,  is  included 
with  the  rest  of  the  apostles  in  the  sad  statement 
that  they  all  forsook  their  Master  and  fled.  But,  if 
so,  his  panic  can  only  have  lasted  a  moment.  He 
was  present  at  the  very  commencement  of  the  trial  ; 
and  heie  he  still  is  with  his  Master  at  the  last — the 
only  one  oY  all  the  Twelve.  Perhaps,  indeed,  the 
acquaintance  with  the  high  priest,  which  availed 
him  to  get  into  the  palace  where  the  trial  took 
place,"  may  still  have  operated  in  his  favour.  But  it 
was  most  of  all  his  greater  devotion  that  brought 
him  to  his  Master's  side.  He  who  had  leaned  on 
His  breast  could  not  stay  away,  whatever  might  be 
the  danger.  And  he  had  his  reward  ;  for  he  was 
permitted  to  render  a  last  service  to  Jesus  amidst 
His  agony,  and  he  received  from  Him  a  token  of 
confidence  which  by  a  heart  like  his  must  have  been 
felt  to  be  an  unspeakable  privilege  and  honour. 


THE    THIRD    WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS      219 


III. 


It  is  most  of  all,  however,  with  the  impression 
made  by  the  situation  on  Jesus  Himself  that  we 
wish  to  acquaint  ourselves. 

He  looked  on  His  mother  ;  and  it  was  with  an  un- 
preoccupied  eye,  that  was  able  to  disengage  its 
attention  from  every  other  object  by  which  it  was 
solicited.  He  was  suffeiing  at  the  time  an  extrem- 
ity of  pain  which  might  have  made  Him  insensible 
to  everything  beyond  Himself.  Or,  if  He  had  com- 
posure enough  to  think,  a  dying  man  has  many 
things  to  reflect  upon  within  his  own  mind.  Christ, 
we  know,  had  a  whole  world  of  interests  to  attend 
to  ;  for  now  He  was  engaged  in  a  final  wrestle  with 
the  problem  to  which  His  whole  life  had  been  de- 
voted. The  prayer  on  behalf  of  His  enemies  does 
not  surprise  us  so  much,  for  it  may  be  said  to  have 
been  part  of  His  office  to  intercede  for  sinners  ;  nor 
His  address  to  the  penitent  thief,  for  this  also  was 
quite  in  harmony  with  His  work  as  the  Saviour, 
But  we  do  wonder  that  in  such  an  hour  He  had 
leisure  to  attend  to  a  domestic  detail  of  ordinary 
life.  Men  who  have  been  engaged  in  philanthropic 
and  reformatory  schemes  have  not  infrequently  been 
unmindful  of  the  'claims  of  their  own  families  ;  and 


2  20  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  \ 

they  have  excused  themselves,  or  excuse  has  been 
made  for  them,  on  the  ground  that  the  public  inter- 
est predominated  over  the  rights  of  their  relatives. 
Now  and  then  Jesus  Himself  spoke  as  if  He  took 
this  view  :  He  would  not  allow  His  plans  to  be  in- 
terfered with  even  by  His  mother.  But  now  He 
showed  that,  though  He  could  not  but  refuse  her 
unjust  interference,  He  had  never  for  a  moment 
forgotten  her  just  claims  or  her  true  interests.  In 
spite  of  His  greatness  and  in  spite  of  His  work,  He 
still  remained  Mary's  Son  and  bore  to  her  an  undy- 
ing affectior. 

The  words  He  spoke  were,  indeed,  few  ;  but  they 
completely  covered  the  case.  Every  word  He  ut- 
tered in  that  position  was  with  great  pain  ;  there- 
fore He  could  not  say  much.  Besides,  their  very 
fewness  imparted  to  them  a  kind  of  judicial  dig- 
nity ;  as  has  been  said,  this  was  Christ's  last  will 
and  testament.  To  His  mother  He  said,  "  Woman, 
behold  thy  son,"  *  indicating  St.  John  with  His 
eyes  ;  and  to  the  disciple  He  merely  said,  "  Behold 
thy  mother."  It  was  simple,  yet  comprehensive  ;  a 
plain,  almost  legal  direction,  and  yet  overflowing 
with  love  to  both  Mary  and  John. 


*  "  Woman"  may  mean  sadly  (proleptically),  "Thou  hast  no 
son  now." 


THE    THIRD    WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS       221 


It  is  supposed  that  Joseph,  the  husband  of  the 
Virgin,  had  died  before  our  Lord's  public  career 
began,  and  that  in  Nazareth  the  weight  of  the 
household  had  fallen  on  the  shoulders  of  Jesus.  No 
doubt,  during  His  years  of  preaching,  He  would 
tenderly  care  for  His  mother.  But  now  He  too  was 
leaving  her,  and  the  widow  would  be  without  sup- 
port.     It  was  for  this  He  had  to  provide. 

He  had  no  money  to  leave  her  ;  His  earthly  all, 
when  He  was  crucified,  consisted  of  the  clothes  He 
wore  ;  and  these  fell  to  the  soldiers.  But  it  is  one 
of  the  privileges  of  those  who,  though  they  may  be 
poor  themselves,  make  many  rich  with  the  gifts  of 
truth,  that  they  thereby  win  friends  who  are  proud 
and  eager  to  serve  them  or  theirs.  In  committing 
His  mother  to  St.  John  Jesus  knew  that  the  charge 
would  be  accepted  not  as  a  burden  but  a  gift. 

Why  she  did  not  go  to  the  home  of  one  of  her 
other  sons  it  is  impossible  to  say.  They  were  not  yet 
believers,  though  soon  afterwards  they  became  so  ; 
but  there  may  have  been  other  reasons  also,  to  us 
unknown. 

At  all  events,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  kind  and  con- 
siderate was  the  selection  of  St.  John  for  this  office. 
There  are  indications  in  the  Gospels  that  St.  John 
was  wealthier,  or  at  least  more  comfortable  in  his 
circumstances,   than  the  rest  of  the  Apostles  ;  and 


222  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OE JESL'S  CHRIST 

this  may  have  weighed  with  Jesus  :  He  would  not 
send  His  mother  where  she  would  feel  herself  to  be 
a  burden.  It  is  highly  probable  also  that  St.  John 
was  unmarried.  But  there  were  deeper  reasons. 
There  was  no  arm  on  which  His  mother  could  lean 
so  confidently  as  that  of  him  who  had  leaned  on  her 
Son's  breast.  St.  Peter,  with  his  hot  temper  and 
rough  fisherman's  ways,  would  not  have  been  near- 
ly so  eligible  a  choice.  John  and  Mary  were  kin- 
dred spiiits.  They  were  especially  one  in  their  in- 
tense affection  for  Jesus.  They  would  never  tire  of 
speaking  to  one  another  about  Him.  He  honoured 
both  of  them  in  each  other's  eyes  by  giving  them  to 
one  another  in  this  way.  If  He  gave  Mary*  a  great 
gift  in  giving  her  St.  John  for  a  son,  He  gave  him 
no  less  a  gift  by  giving  him  such  a  mother  ;  for 
Mary  could  not  but  be  an  ornament  to  any  home. 
Besides,  did  He  not  make  St.  John  in  a  quite  pecul- 
iar sense  His  own  brother  by  substituting  him  in 
His  own  stead  as  the  son  of  Mary  ? 

The  Evangelist  says  that  from  that  hour  John 
took  her  to  his  own  home.  Many  have  understood 
this  to  mean  that  he  at  once  gently  withdrew  her 
from  the  spot,  that  she  should  not  be  agitated  by 
seeing  the  death-throes  of  her  Son,  though  he  him- 
self returned  to  Calvary.  It  is  said  by  tradition 
that  they  lived   together  twelve  years  in  Jerusalem, 


THE    THIRD    WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS      223 

and  that  he  refused  to  leave  the  city,  even  for  the 
purpose  of  preaching  the  gospel,  as  long  as  Mary 
survived.  Only  after  her  death  did  he  depart  on 
those  missionary  travels  which  landed  him  in  Ephe- 
sus  and  its  neighbourhood,  with  which  his  later  his- 
tory is  connected. 

IV. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  read  the  lesson  of  this  touch- 
ing scene.  From  the  pulpit  of  His  cross  Jesus 
preaches  to  all  ages  a  sermon  on  the  fifth  command- 
ment. 

The  heart  of  the  mother  of  Jesus  was  pierced  with 
a  sword  on  account  of  His  sufferings.  It  was  a 
f  harp  weapon  ;  but  Mary  had  one  thing  on  which 
to  steady  up  her  soul  ;  it  kept  her  calm  even  in  the 
wildest  moment  of  her  grief — she  knew  He  was  in- 
nocent. He  had  always  been  pure,  noble  and 
good  ;  she  could  be  proud  of  Him  even  when  they 
were  crucifying  Him,  Many  a  mother's  heart  is 
pierced  with  anguish  on  account  of  a  son's  illness, 
or  misfortunes,  or  early  death  ;  but  she  can  bear  it 
if  she  is  not  pierced  with  the  poisoned  sword. 
What  is  that  ?  It  is  when  she  has  to  be  ashamed  of 
her  child — when  he  is  brought  to  ruin  by  his  own 
misdeeds.     This  is  a  sorrow  far  worse  than  death. 

How  beautiful   it   is   to   see  a  mother  wearing  as 


2  24  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

her  chief  ornament  the  good  name  and  the  honour- 
able success  of  a  son  !  You  who  still  have  a  mother 
or  a  father,  let  this  be  to  you  both  a  spur  to  exer- 
tion and  a  talisman  against  temptation.  To  some  is 
accorded  the  rarer  privilege  of  being  able  to  sup- 
port their  parents  in  old  age.  And  surely  there  is 
no  sweeter  memory  in  the  world  than  the  recollec- 
tion of  having  been  allowed  to  do  this.  "  If  any 
widow  have  children  or  nephews,  let  them  learn  first 
to  show  piety  at  home  and  to  requite  their  parents  ; 
for  that  is  good  and  acceptable  before  God.  .  .  . 
But  if  any  provide  not  for  his  own,  and  specially  for 
those  of  his  own  house,  he  hath  denied  the  faith, 
and  is  worse  than  an  infidel."  * 

But  this  sermon,  delivered  from  the  pulpit  of  the 
cross,  has  a  wider  range.  It  informs  us  that  our 
Saviour  has  a  concern  for  our  temporal  as  well  as 
for  our  eternal  interests.  Even  on  the  cross,  where 
He  was  expiating  the  sin  of  the  world,  He  was 
thinking  of  the  comfort  of  His  widowed  mother. 
Let  the  needy  and  the  deserted  take  courage  from 
this,  and  cast  all  their  care  upon  Him,  for  He  careth 
for  them.  It  is  often  an  astonishment  to  see  how 
widows  especially  are  helped  through.  When  they 
are  left,  with  perhaps  a  number  of  little  children,  it 

*  I  Tim.  V.  6,  8. 


THE    THIRD    WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS       225 


seems  incomprehensible  how  they  can  get  on.  Yet 
not  infrequently  their  families  turn  out  better  than 
those  where  the  father  has  been  spared.  One  rea- 
son is,  perhaps,  that  their  children  feel  from  the 
first  that  they  must  take  a  share  of  the  responsi- 
bility, and  this  makes  men  and  women  of  them. 
But  the  chief  reason  undoubtedly  is  that  God  fulfils 
His  own  promise  to  be  a  Father  to  the  fatherless 
and  a  Husband  to  the  widow,  and  that  they  have 
not  been  forgotten  by  Him  who  in  the  hour  of  His 
absorbing  agony  remembered  Mary. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

THE  FOURTH  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS* 

THE  Seven  Words  from  the  Cross  may  be  di- 
vided into  two  groups.  In  the  first  three — • 
namely,  the  prayer  for  His  crucifiers,  the  word  to 
the  penitent  thief,  and  the  directions  about  His 
mother — our  Lord  was  dealing  with  the  interests  of 
others  ;  in  the  last  four,  to  which  we  now  pass,  He 
was  absorbed  in  His  own  concerns.  This  division 
is  natural.  Many  a  dying  man,  after  arranging  his 
affairs  and  saying  his  farewells,  turns  his  face  to  the 
wall,  to  encounter  death  and  be  alone  with  God. 
It  was  highly  characteristic  of  Jesus,  however,  be- 
fore turning  to  His  own  things,  first  to  mind  the 
things  of  others. 

Between  these  two  groups  of  sayings  there  seems 
to  have  elapsed  a  long  interval.  From  the  sixth 
hour  to  the  ninth  Jesus  was  silent.  And  during  this 
interval  there  was   darkness  over  all  the  land.      Of 

*  "  My  God,  My  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me  ?" 


THE  FOURTH  WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS     227 

what  precise  nature  this  atmospheric  effect  may 
have  been  it  is  impossible  at  this  distance  to  say. 
Bat  the  Evangelists,  three  of  whom  mention  it,  evi- 
dently consider  it  to  have  indicated  in  some  sense 
the  sympathy  of  nature  with  her  Lord.  It  was  as  if 
the  sun  refused  to  look  on  such  a  deed  of  shame. 
It  may  be  supposed  that  by  this  weird  phenomenon 
the  noises  round  the  cross  were  in  some  degree 
hushed.  At  length  the  silence  was  broken  by  Christ 
Himself,  who,  in  a  loud  voice,  gave  utterance  to 
the  Fourth  Word  from  the  cross.  This  was  a  word 
of  astonishment  and  agony,  yet  also  of  victory. 


I. 


Of  what  nature  had  been  the  meditations  of  our 
Lord  during  the  three  hours  of  silence  ?  Had  He 
been  in  an  ecstasy  of  communion  with  His  heavenly 
Father  ?  Not  infrequently  has  this  been  vouchsafed 
to  dying  saints.  And  it  has  sometimes  enabled 
them  completely  to  overcome  physical  suffering. 
Martyrs  have  occasionally  been  so  exalted  at  the 
last  as  to  be  able  even  to  sing  in  the  flames.  It  is 
with  awe  and  astonishment  we  learn  that  the  very 
opposite  of  this  was  the  state  of  mind  of  Jesus.  The 
word  with  which  He  burst  out  of  the  trance  of 
silence  may  be  taken  as  the  index  of  what  was  going 


2  28  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEA  7VI  OE  JESUS  CHRIST 

on  in  His  mind  during  the  preceding  hours  ;  and  it 
is  a  cry  out  of  the  lowest  depths  of  despair.  In- 
deed, it  is  the  most  appalling  sound  that  ever 
pierced  the  atmosphere  of  this  earth.  Familiar  as 
it  is  to  us,  it  cannot  be  heard  by  a  sensitive  ear  even 
at  this  day  without  causing  a  cold  shudder  of  ter- 
ror. In  the  entire  Bible  there  is  no  other  sentence 
so  difficult  to  explain.  The  first  thought  of  a 
preacher,  on  coming  to  it,  is  to  find  some  excuse 
for  passing  it  by  ;  and,  after  doing  his  utmost  to 
expound  it,  he  must  still  confess  that  it  is  quite  be- 
yond him.  Yet  there  is  a  great  reward  in  grappling 
with  such  difficult  passages  ;  for  never  does  the 
truth  impress  us  so  profoundly  as  when  we  are 
made  to  feel  that  all  the  length  which  we  are  able  to 
go  is  only  into  the  shallows  of  the  shore,  while  be- 
yond our  reach  lies  the  great  ocean. 

Even  in  Christ's  own  mind  the  uppermost  thought, 
when  He  uttered  this  cry,  was  one  of  astonish- 
ment. In  Gethsemane,  we  are  told,  "  He  was  sore 
amazed."  And  this  is  obviously  the  tone  of  this 
utterance  also.  We  almost  detect  an  accentuation 
of  the  "  Thou"  like  that  in  the  word  with  which  the 
murdered  Caesar  fell.  All  His  life  Jesus  had  been 
accustomed  to  find  Himself  forsaken.  The  mem- 
bers of  His  own  household  early  rejected  Him.  So 
did  His  fellow-townsmen  in   Nazareth.      Ultimately 


THE   FOURTH  WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS     229 

the  nation  at  lai'ge  followed  the  same  course.  The 
multitudes  that  at  one  time  followed  Him  wherever 
He  went  and  hung  upon  His  lips  eventually  took 
offence  and  went  away.  At  last,  in  the  crisis  of  His 
fate,  one  of  His  nearest  followers  betrayed  Him  and 
the  rest  forsook  Him  and  fled.  Biit  in  these  disap- 
pointments, though  He  felt  them  keenly,  He  had 
always  had  one  resource  :  He  was  always  able, 
when  rejected  of  men,  to  turn  away  from  them  and 
cast  Himself  with  confidence  on  the  breast  of  God. 
Disappointed  of  human  love,  He  drank  the  more 
deeply  of  the  love  divine.  He  always  knew  that 
what  He  was  doing  or  suffering  was  in  accord  with 
the  will  of  God  ;  His  feelings  kept  constant  time 
with  the  Divine  heart  ;  God's  thoughts  were  His 
thoughts  ;  He  could  clearly  discern  the  divine  in- 
tention leading  through  all  the  contradictions  of  His 
career  to  a  sublime  result.  Therefore  He  could 
calmly  say,  even  at  the  Last  Supper,  with  reference 
to  the  impending  desertion  of  the  Twelve,  "  Behold, 
the  hour  cometh,  yea,  is  now  come,  that  ye  shall  be 
scattered,  every  man  to  his  own,  and  shall  leave  Me 
alone  ;  and  yet  I  am  not  alone,  because  the  Father 
is  with  Me."  Now,  however,  the  hour  had  come  ; 
and  was  this  expectation  fulfilled  ?  They  were  scat- 
tered, as  He  had  predicted,  and  He  was  left  alone  ; 
but  was   He   not  alone  ?  was  the   Father  still    with 


23°  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Him  ?     His  own   words    supply   the    answer  :   "  My 
God,  My  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me  ?" 


II. 

Although  the  state  of  mind  of  our  Lord  on  this 
occasion  was  so  different  from  what  we  know  to 
have  been  His  habitual  mood,  yet  it  does  not  stand 
absolutely  isolated  in  His  history.  We  know  of  at 
least  two  experiences  somewhat  resembling  it,  and 
these  may  in  some  degtee  help  us  to  its  explana- 
tion. The  first  overtook  Him  on  the  occasion  of  the 
visit  of  certain  Greeks  at  the  beginning  of  the  last 
week  of  His  life.  They  had  desired  to  see  Him  ; 
but,  when  they  were  introduced  by  Andrew  and 
Philip,  Jesus,  instead  of  being  exhilarated,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  was  overcome  with  a  spasm  of 
pain,  and  groaned,  "  Now  is  My  soul  troubled,  and 
what  shall  I  say  ?  Father,  save  Mc  from  this  hour." 
The  sight  of  these  visitors  from  the  outside  world 
made  Him  feel  how  grand  and  how  congenial  to 
Himself  would  have  been  a  worldwide  mission  to 
the  heathen,  such  as  He  might  have  undertaken  had 
His  life  been  prolonged  ;  but  this  was  impossible, 
because  in  the  flower  of  His  age  He  was  to  die. 
The  other  occasion  was  the  Agony  of  Gethsemane. 
A  careful   and    reverent   study  will   reveal   that  this 


THE   FOURTH  WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS     231 

incident  was  the  effort  by  which  the  will  of  Christ 
rose  into  unity  with  the  will  of  His  Father.  It  be- 
longs to  the  very  essence  of  human  nature  that  it 
must  grow  from  stage  to  stage  ;  and  the  perfection 
of  our  Lord,  just  because  it  was  human,  had  to  real- 
ise itself  on  every  step  of  a  ladder  of  development. 
He  was  always  both  perfect  on  the  stage  which  He 
had  reached,  and  at  the  same  time  rising  to  a  higher 
stage  of  perfection.  Sometimes  the  step  might  be 
more  easy,  at  other  times  more  difficult  ;  the  step 
which  He  had  to  take  in  Gethsemane  was  supremely 
difficult  ;  hence  the  effort  and  the  pain  which  it 
cost.  It  seemed,  however,  in  Gethsemane  as  if  He 
had  finally  conquered,  and  it  might  have  been  ex- 
pected that  the  mood  of  weakness  and  darkness 
could  not  come  back.  Yet  it  was  to  be  permitted 
to  return  once  more  ;  and  on  the  cross  the  attack 
was  far  more  violent  and  prolonged  than  on  either 
of  the  preceding  occasions.  Keeping  in  mind  the 
light  which  these  two  previous  accesses  of  the  same 
mood  may  cast  on  this  one,  let  us  draw  near  rever- 
ently and  see  how  far  we  may  be  able  to  penetrate 
into  the  mystery. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  there  was  a  physi- 
cal element  in  it.  He  had  now  been  a  considerable 
time  on  the  cross  ;  and  every  minute  the  agony  was 
increasing.     The  wounds  in  His  hands  and  feet,  ex- 


232  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

posed  to  the  atmosphere  and  the  sun,  grew  barked 
and  hardened  ;  the  blood,  impeded  in  its  circula- 
tion, swelled  in  heart  and  brain,  till  these  organs 
were  like  to  burst  ;  and  the  slightest  attempt  to 
move  the  body  from  the  one  intolerable  posture 
caused  pains  to  shoot  along  the  quivering  nerves. 
Bodily  suffering  clouds  the  brain  and  distorts  the 
i-Tiages  formed  on  the  mirror  of  the  mind.  Even 
the  face  of  God,  reflected  there,  may  be  turned  to  a 
shape  of  terror  by  the  fumes  of  physical  trouble. 

The  horror  of  mortal  suffering  may  have  been 
greater  to  Jesus  than  to  other  men,  because  of  the 
fineness  and  sensitiveness  of  His  physical  organiza- 
tion. His  body  had  never  been  coarsened  with  sin, 
and  therefore  death  was  utterly  alien  to  it.  The 
stream  of  physical  life,  which  is  one  of  the  precious 
gifts  of  God,  had  poured  through  His  frame  in 
abundant  and  sunny  tides.  But  now  it  was  being 
withdrawn,  and  the  counterflow  had  set  in.  The 
unity  of  a  perfect  nature  was  being  violently  torn 
asunder  ;  and  He  felt  Himself  drifting  awa}^  from 
the  living  world,  which  to  Him  had  been  so  full  of 
God's  presence  and  goodness,  into  the  pale,  cold 
regions  of  inanity.*     He  did  not  belong  to  death  ; 


*  Some  of  the  Fathers  thought  of  the  separation  of  the  divine 
from  the  human  nature  as  taking  place  now. 


THE  FOURTH  WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS    233 

yet  He  was  falling  into  death's  grasp.  No  angtl 
came  to  rescue  Him  ;  God  interposed  with  no  mira- 
cle to  arrest  the  issue  ;  He  was  abandoned  to  His 
fate. 

There  was  more,  however,  it  is  easy  to  see,  in  the 
agony  which  prompted  this  cry  than  the  merely 
physical.  If  in  Gethsemane  we  have  the  effort  of 
the  will  of  Jesus,  as  it  raised  itself  into  unity  with 
the  will  of  the  Father,  w^e  here  see  the  effort  of  His 
mind  as,  amidst  the  confusion  and  contradictions  of 
the  cross,  it  finally  rose  into  unity  with  the  mind  of 
God.  This  intellectual  character  of  His  pain  is  in- 
dicated by  the  word  "  Why."  It  is  always  painful 
when  the  creature  has  to  say  Why  to  the  Creator. 
We  believe  that  He  is  Sovereign  of  the  world  and 
Guide  of  our  destiny,  and  that  He  urges  forward 
the  course  of  things  in  the  reins  of  infinite  wisdom 
and  love.  But,  while  this  is  the  habitual  and 
healthy  sense  of  the  human  mind,  especially  when 
it  is  truly  religious,  there  are  crises,  both  in  the 
great  and  in  the  little  world,  when  faith  fails.  The 
world  is  out  of  joint  ;  everything  appears  to  have 
gone  wrong  ;  the  reins  seem  to  have  slipped  out  of 
the  hands  of  God  and  the  chariot  to  be  plunging 
forward  uncontrolled  ;  the  course  of  things  seems 
no  more  to  be  presided  over  by  reason,  but  by  a 
blind,  if  not  a  cruel  fate.     It  is  then  that  the  poor 


234  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

human  mind  cries  out  Why.  The  entire  book  of 
Job  is  such  a  cry.  Jeremiah  cried  Why  to  God  in 
term.s  of  startling  boldness.  In  mortal  pain,  in  be- 
wildering disappointments,  in  bereavements  which 
empty  the  heart  and  empty  the  world,  millions  have 
thus  cried  Why  in  every  age.  It  seems  an  irre- 
ligious word.  When  Jeremiah  says,  "  O  Lord, 
Thou  hast  deceived  me  and  I  was  deceived,"  or 
when  Job  demands,  "Why  did  I  not  from  the 
womb  ?  why  did  I  not  give  up  the  ghost  when  I 
came  out  of  the  belly  ?"  it  sounds  like  the  voice  of 
a  blasphemer.  But  indeed  it  is  into  the  most  ear- 
nest and  delicate  souls  that  this  despair  is  likeliest 
to  slip.  The  ignorant,  the  frivolous  and  the  time- 
serving are  safe  from  it  ;  for  they  are  well  enough 
satisfied  with  things  as  they  are.  Callous  minds 
learn  to  be  content  without  explanations.  '  But  the 
more  deeply  pious  a  mind  is,  the  more  jealous  must 
it  be  for  justice  and  the  glory  of  God  ;  the  appear- 
ance of  unwisdom,  in  the  government  of  the  world 
shocks  it  ;  to  be  able  to  trace  the  footsteps  of  God's 
care  is  a  necessity  of  its  existence.  Hence  its  pain 
when  these  evidences  disappear.  Now,  all  the  con- 
tradictions and  confusions  of  the  world  were  focussed 
on  Golgotha.  Injustice  was  triumphant  ;  innocence 
was  scorned  and  crushed  ;  everything  was  exactly 
the  reverse  of  what  it  ought  to  have  been.     And  all 


THE   FOURTH  IVORD   FROM    THE    CROSS    235 


the  millions  of  Whys  which  have  risen  from  agonized 
souls,  jealous  for  the  honour  of  God  but  perplexed 
by  His  providence,  were  concentrated  in  the  Why 
of  Christ. 

How  near  to  us  He  is  !  Never  perhaps  in  His 
whole  life  did  He  so  completely  identify  Himself 
with  His  poor  brethren  of  mankind.  For  here  He 
comes  down  to  stand  by  our  side  not  only  when  we 
have  to  encounter  pain  and  misfortune,  bereavement 
and  death,  but  when  we  are  enduring  that  pain 
which  is  beyond  all  pains,  that  horror  in  whose 
presence  the  brain  reels,  and  faith  and  love,  the 
eyes  of  life,  are  put  out — the  horror  of  a  universe 
without  God,  a  universe  which  is  one  hideous,  tum- 
bling, crashing  mass  of  confusion,  with  no  reason 
to  guide  and  no  love  to  sustain  it. 

Can  we  advance  a  step  farther  into  the  mystery  ? 
The  deepest  question  of  all  is  whether  the  desertion 
of  Jesus  was  subjective  or  objective — that  is,  whether 
He  had  only,  on  account  of  bodily  weakness  and  a 
temporary  obscuration  of  the  inward  vision,  a  sense 
of  being  abandoned,  or  whether,  in  any  real  sense, 
God  had  actually  forsaken  Him.  Of  course  we  are 
certain  that  God  was  infinitely  well  pleased  with 
Him — never  moie  so,  surely,  than  when  He  was  sac- 
rificing Himself  to  the  uttermost  on  behalf  of  others. 
But  was   there,  at   the   same   time,  any   outflashing 


236  THE    TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

against  Him  of  the  reverse  side  of  the  Divine  nature 
— the  lightning  of  the  Divine  wrath  ?  Calvary  was 
an  awful  revelation  of  the  human  heart,  whose 
enmity  was  directed  straight  against  the  perfect 
revelation  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ.  There  the 
sin  of  man  reached  its  climax  and  did  its  worst. 
What  was  done  there  against  Christy  and  against 
God  in  Him,  was  a  kind  of  embodiment  and  quin- 
tessence of  the  sin  of  the  whole  world.  And  un- 
doubtedly it  was  this  which  was  pressing  on  Jesus  ; 
this  was  "the  travail  of  His  soul."  He  was  look- 
ing close  at  sin's  utmost  hideousness  ;  He  was  sick- 
ened with  its  contact  ;  He  was  crushed  with  its 
brutality — crushed  to  death.  Yet  this  human  nature 
was  His  own  ;  He  was  identified  with  it — bone  of 
its  bone,  flesh  of  its  flesh  ;  and,  as  in  a  reprobate 
family  an  exquisitely  delicate  and  refined  sister  may 
feel  the  whole  weight  of  the  debt  and  shame  of  the 
household  to  lie  on  herself,,  so  He  felt  the  unworthi- 
ness  and  hopelessness  of  the  race  as  if  they  were 
His  own  ;  and,  like  the  scapegoat  on  whose  head 
the  sins  of  the  community  were  laid  in  the  old  dis- 
pensation, He  went  out  into  the  land  of  forsaken- 
ness. 

Thus  far  we  may  proceed,  feeling  that  we  have 
solid  ground  beneath  our  feet.  But  many  have 
ventured  farther.      Even  Luther  and  Calvin  allowed 


THE   FOURril  WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS     237 

themselves  to  say  that  in  the  hours  which  preceded 
this  cry  our  Lord  endured  the  torments  of  the 
damned.  And  Rambach,  whose  Meditations  on  the 
Sufferings  /)/  Christ  have  fed  the  piety  of  Germany 
for  a  hundred  years,  says  :  "  God  was  now  dealing 
with  Him  not  as  a  loving  and  merciful  father  with 
his  child,  but  as  an  offended  and  righteous  judge 
with  an  evildoer.  The  heavenly  Father  now  re- 
gards His  Son  as  the  greatest  sinner  to  be  found 
beneath  the  sun,  and  discharges  on  Him  the  whole 
weight  of  His  wrath."  But,  if  we  were  to  make 
use  of  such  language,  we  should  be  venturing  be- 
yond our  depth.  Much  to  be  preferred  is  the  mod- 
est comment  of  the  holy  and  learned  Bengel  on  our 
text  :  "  In  this  fourth  word  from  the  cross  our  Sa- 
viour not  only  says  that  He  has  been  delivered  up 
into  the  hands  of  men,  but  that  He  has  suffered  at 
the  hands  of  God  something  unutterable."  Cer- 
tainly there  is  here  something  unutterable.  We 
have  ventured  into  the  mystery  as  far  as  we  are 
able  ;  but  we  know  that  we  are  yet  only  in  the  shal- 
lows near  the  shore  ;  the  unplumbed  ocean  lies  be- 
yond. 

III. 

It  may  appear  an  affectation  to  speak  of  this  as  in 
any   sense   a  cry  of  victory.     Yet,  if  what  has  just 


238  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

been  said  be  true,  this,  which  was  the  extreme  mo- 
ment of  suffering,  was  also  the  supreme  moment  of 
achievement.  As  the  flower,  by  being  crushed, 
yields  up  its  fragrant  essence,  so  He,  by  taking  into 
His  heart  the  sin  of  the  world,  brought  salvation  to 
the  world. 

In  point  of  fact,  all  history  since  has  shown  that 
it  was  in  this  very  hour  that  Christ  conquered  the 
heart  of  mankind.  Long  before  He  had  said,  "  I, 
if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men 
unto  Me."  And  the  correctness  of  this  anticipation 
is  matter  of  history.  Christ  on  the  cross  has  ever 
since  then  been  the  most  fascinating  object  in  the 
eyes  of  mankind.  The  mind  and  heart  of  humanity 
have  been  irresistibly  attracted  to  Him,  never  weary 
of  studying  Him.  And  the  utterance  of  this  cry  is 
the  culminating  moment  to  which  the  inquiring 
mind  specially  turns.  Theology  has  its  centre  in 
the  cross.  Sometimes,  indeed,  it  has  been  shy  of 
it,  and  has  divagated  from  it  in  wide  circles  ;  but, 
as  soon  as  it  becomes  profound  and  humble  again, 
it  always  returns. 

Yes,  when  it  becomes  humble  !  Penitent  souls 
are  drawn  to  the  cross,  and  the  deeper  their  peni- 
tence the  more  are  they  at  home.  They  stand  be- 
side the  dying  Saviour  and  say,  This  is  what  we 
ought  to   have   suffered  ;  our  life  was  forfeited  by 


THE  FOURTH  WORD  FROM    THE    CROSS    239 

our  guilt  ;  thus  our  blood  deserved  to  flow  ;  we 
might  justly  have  been  banished  forever  into  the 
desert  of  forsakenness.  But,  as  they  thus  make 
confession,  their  forfeited  life  is  given  back  to  them 
for  Christ's  sake,  the  peace  of  God  is  shed  abroad 
in  their  hearts,  and  the  new  life  of  love  and  service 
begins.  The  supreme  Christian  rite  brings  us  to 
this  very  spot  and  to  this  very  moment  :  "  This  is 
My  blood  of  the  New  Testament,  shed  for  many  for 
the  remission  of  sins." 

It  was  not,  however,  merely  in  this  profound  sense 
that  this  fourth  word  of  the  dying  Saviour  was  a 
cry  of  victory.  It  was  so,  also,  because  it  liberated 
Him  from  His  depression.  It  has  been  said  that 
when,  at  His  encounter  with  the  Greeks,  He  groaned, 
"  Father,  save  Me  from  this  hour,"  He  immediately 
checked  Himself  with  "  Father,  glorify  Thy  name"  ; 
likewise  that  in  Gethsemane,  when  He  prayed,  "  If 
it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  Me,"  He 
hastened  to  add,  "  Nevertheless,  not  My  will,  but 
Thine  be  done"  ;  but  that  on  this  occasion  the  cry 
of  despair  was  followed  by  no  word  of  resignation. 
This,  however,  is  a  mistake.  The  cry  itself,  though 
an  utterance  of  despair,  yet  involved  the  strongest 
faith.  See  how  He  lays  hold  of  the  Eternal  with 
both  hands  :  "  My  God,  My  God  !"  It  is  a  prayer  : 
a  thousand   times  He  had  turned  to  this  resource 


240  THE    TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

in  days  of  trial  ;  and  He  does  so  in  this  supreme 
trouble.  To  do  so  cures  despair.  No  one  is  for- 
saken who  can  pray,  "  My  God."  As  one  in  deep 
water,  feeling  no  bottom,  makes  a  despairing  plunge 
forward  and  lands  on  solid  ground,  so  Jesus,  in  the 
very  act  of  uttering  His  despair,  overcame  it.  Feel- 
ing forsaken  of  God,  He  rushed  into  the  arms  of 
God  ;  and  these  arms  closed  round  Him  in  loving 
protection.  Accordingly,  as  the  darkness,  which 
had  brooded  over  all  the  land,  disappeared  at  the 
ninth  hour,  so  His  mind  emerged  from  eclipse  ; 
and,  as  we  shall  see,  His  last  words  were  uttered  in 
His  usual  mood  of  serenity. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 
THE  FIFTH  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS* 

THE  fourth  word  from  the  cross  we  looked  upon 
both  as  the  climax  of  the  struggle  which  had 
gone  on  in  the  mind  of  the  divine  Sufferer  during 
the  three  hours  of  silence  and  darkness  which  pre- 
ceded its  utterance  and  as  the  liberation  of  His  mind 
from  that  struggle.  This  view  seems  to  be  con- 
firmed by  the  terms  in  which  St.  John  introduces 
the  Fifth  Word — "  After  this,  Jesus,  knowing  that 
all  things  were  now  accomplished,!  that  the  Scrip- 
ture might  be  fulfilled,  saith,  I  thirst," 

The  phrase,  "  that  the  Scripture  might  be  ful- 
filled," is  usually  connected  with  the  words,  "  I 
thirst,"  as  if  the  meaning  were  that  He  had  said 
this  fifth  word  in  fulfilment  of  some  prediction  that 
He  would   do   so  ;  and   the   Old   Testament   is   ran- 

*"  I  thirst." 

•j-  TETeTiearaL — the  very  word  of  Jesus  Himself — "  It  is  finished—" 
which  may  possibly  have  been  fourth. 


242  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 


sacked,  without  much  result,  for  the  prophetic 
words  which  may  be  supposed  to  be  alluded  to.  It 
is  better,  however,  to  connect  the  phrase  with  what 
goes  before — "Jesus,  knowing  that  all  things  were 
now  accomplished."  It  was  only  when  His  work, 
appointed  by  God  and  prescribed  in  Scripture,  was 
completed,  that  He  became  sufficiently  conscious  of 
His  bodily  condition  to  say,  "  I  thirst."  Intense 
mental  preoccupation  has  a  tendency  to  cause  the 
oblivion  of  bodily  wants.  Even  the  excitement  of 
reading  a  fascinating  book  may  keep  at  a  distance 
for  hours  the  sense  of  requiring  sleep  or  food  ;  and 
it  is  only  when  the  reader  comes  out  of  the  trance 
of  absorption  that  he  realises  how  spent  he  is. 
During  the  temptation  in  the  wilderness  Jesus  was 
too  absorbed  to  be  aware  of  His  bodily  necessities  ; 
but,  when  the  spiritual  strain  was  removed.  He 
"  was  afterward  an  hungered." 

In  the  present  instance,  when  He  came  out  of  His 
spiritual  trance,  it  was  thirst  He  became  conscious 
of.  I  remember  once  talking  with  a  German  stu- 
dent who  had  served  in  the  Franco-Prussian  War. 
He  was  wounded  in  an  engagement  near  Paris,  and 
lay  on  the  field  unable  to  stir.  He  did  not  know 
exactly  what  was  the  nature  of  his  wound,  and  he 
thought  that  he  might  be  dying.  The  pain  was  in- 
tense ;  the  wounded  and  dying  were  groaning  round 


THE  FIFTH   WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS       243 

about  him  ;  the  battle  was  still  raging  ;  and  shots 
were  falling  and  tearing  up  the  ground  in  all  direc- 
tions. But  after  a  time  one  agony,  he  told  me, 
began  to  swallow  up  all  the  rest,  and  soon  made 
him  forget  his  wound,  his  danger  and  his  neigh- 
bours. It  was  the  agony  of  thirst.  He  would  have 
given  the  world  for  a  draught  of  water.  This  was 
the  supreme  distress  of  crucifixion.  The  agonies  of 
the  horrible  punishment  were  of  the  most  excruciat- 
ing and  complicated  order  ;  but,  after  a  time,  they 
all  gathered  into  one  central  current,  in  which  they 
were  lost  and  swallowed  up — that  of  devouring 
thirst  ;  and  it  was  this  that  drew  from  our  Lord  the 
fifth  word.* 


*  He  had  by  this  time  been  on  the  cross  for  four  hours  or 
more.  The  arrest  took  place  about  midnight  ;  the  ecclesiastical 
trial  terminated  about  sunrise  ;  the  proceedings  before  Pilate 
occupied  perhaps  from  six  to  nine,  or  rather  more  ;  the  crucifixion 
took  place  towards  noon  ;  from  noon  till  three  o'clock  darkness 
prevailed  ;  and  between  this  and  sunset  the  death  and  burial 
took  place.  See  Matt,  xxvii.  r  ;  Mark  xv.  25,  33,  34,  42.  St. 
John's  statement  of  time,  xix.  r4,  is  a  difficulty.  He  appears  to 
reckon  from  a  different  starting-point.  See  Andrews'  Life  of  Our 
Lord  (new  edition),  pp.  545  ff.  In  the  same  passage  St.  John 
says,  "  It  was  the  preparation  of  the  passover";  does  this  mean 
the  day  before  the  feast  commenced,  or  the  day  before  the  Sab- 
bath of  Passover  Week  ?  There  are  held  to  be  other  indications 
that  St.  John  represents  the  crucifixion  as  having  taken  place  the 
day  before  the  Passover  began,  whereas  the  Synoptists  place  it 
the   day  after  (especially  John  xviii.    28,  where   the   question   is 


244  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 


I. 

This  was  the  only  cry  of  physical  pain  uttered  by 
our  Lord  on  the  cross.  As  was  remarked  in  a  pre- 
vious chapter,  it  was  not  uncommon  for  the'victims 
of  crucifixion,  when  the  ghastly  operation  of  nailing 
them  to  the  tree  began,  to  writhe  and  resist,  and  to 
indulge  either  in  abject  entreaties  to  be  saved  from 
the  inevitable  or  in  wild  defiance  of  their  fate.  But 
at  this  stage  Jesus  uttered  never,  a  word  of  com- 
plaint. Afterwards  also,  in  spite  of  the  ever-in- 
creasing pain.  He  preserved  absolute  self-control. 
He  was  absorbed  either  in  caring  for  others  or  in 
prayer  to  God. 

It  is  a  sublime  example  of  patience.  It  rebukes 
our  softness  and  intolerance  of  pain.  How  easily 
we  are  made  to  cry  out  ;  how  peevish  and  ill-tem- 
pered we  become  under  slight  annoyances  !  A 
headache,  a  toothache,  a  cold,  or  some  other  slight 
affair,  is  supposed  to  be  a  sufficient  justification  for 
losing  all  self-control  and  making  a  whole  house- 
hold uncomfortable.  Suffering  does  not  always 
sanctify.     It  sours  some  tempers  and   makes  them 

whether  "  the  passover"  means  the  Paschal  Lamb  or  the  Chagi- 
gah,  a  portion  of  the  feast  belonging  to  the  second  day).  On  this 
question  there  is  an  extensive  literature.  See  Andrews,  452-81, 
and  Keim,  vol.  vi.,  pp.  195-219. 


THE   FIFTH  WORD  FROM    THE    CROSS       245 

selfish  and  exacting.  This  is  the  besetting  sin  of 
invalids — to  become  absorbed  in  their  own  miseries 
and  to  make  all  about  them  the  slaves  of  their  ca- 
prices. But  many  triumph  nobly  over  their  tempta- 
tion ;  and  in  this  they  are  following  the  example  of 
the  suffering  Saviour.  There  are  sick-rooms  which 
it  is  a  privilege  to  visit.  You  may  know  that  the 
place  is  a  scene  of  excruciating  pain  ;  but  on  the  pil- 
low there  lies  a  sweet,  patient  face  ;  the  voice  is 
cheerful  and  thankful  ;  and,  instead  of  being  self- 
absorbed,  the  mind  is  full  of  unselfish  thoughts  for 
others.  I  recall  the  description  given  by  a  friend  of 
one  such  invalid's  chamber,  which  used  to  be  filled 
with  the  most  beautiful  cheerfulness  and  activity. 
At  a  certain  time  of  year  you  might  see  in  it  quite 
an  exhibition  of  stockings,  pinafores,  dresses  and 
other  pretty  things,  prepared  for  the  children  of  a 
mission-school  in  India.  By  thinking  of  the  needs 
of  those  children  far  away  the  invalid  not  only  kept 
her  own  sufferings  at  bay,  but  created  for  herself 
delightful  connections  with  God's  work  and  God's 
people.  Yet  she  was  one  who  might  easily  have 
asserted  the  right  to  do  nothing,  and  have  taxed  the 
patience  and  the  services  of  those  by  whom  she  was 
surrounded. 

But   there   is   another  lesson   besides   patience   in 
this  word  of  Christ.      He  only  uttered  one  word  of 


246  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

physical  pain  ;  but  He  did  utter  one.  His  self-con- 
trol was  not  proud  or  sullen.  There  is  a  silence  in 
suffering  that  is  mere  doggedness,  when  we  screw 
our  courage  to  the  sticking-place  and  resolve  that 
nobody  shall  hear  any  complaint  from  us.  We  suc- 
ceed in  being  silent,  but  it  is  with  a  bad  grace  : 
there  is  no  love  or  patience  in  our  hearts,  but  only 
selfish  determination.  This  is  especially  a  tempta- 
tion when  anyone  has  injured  us  and  we  do  not  wish 
to  let  him  see  how  much  we  have  suffered,  lest  he 
should  be  gratified.  Jesus  was  surrounded  by  those 
who  had  wantonly  wronged  Him  ;  not  only  had 
they  inflicted  pain,  but  they  had  laughed  and 
mocked  at  His  sufferings.  He  might  have  resolved 
not  on  any  account  to  show  His  feelings  or  at  least 
to  ask  any  kindness.  It  is  sometimes  more  difficult 
to  ask  a  favour  than  to  grant  one  ;  it  requires  m^ore 
of  the  spirit  of  forgiveness.*  But  not  only  did  Jesus 
ask  a  favour  :  He  expected  to  receive  it.  Shame- 
fully as  He  had  been  treated  by  those  to  whom  He 
had  to  appeal,  He  believed  that  there  might  still  be 
some  remains  of  goodness  at  the  bottom  of  their 
hearts.  All  His  life  He  had  been  wont  to  discover 
more  good  in  the  worst  than  others  believed  to  ex- 


*  "  To  be   in   too  great  a  hurry  to  discharge  an   obligation  is 
itself  a  kind  of  ingratitude." — La  Rochefoucauld. 


THE   FIFTH  WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS       247 

ist,  and  to  the  last  He  remained  true  to  His  own  faith. 
The  maxim  of  the  world  is  to  take  all  men  for 
rogues  till  the  reverse  has  been  proved.  Especially 
when  people  have  enemies,  they  believe  the  own  very 
worst  of  them  and  paint  their  characters  without  a 
single  streak  of  any  colour  but  black.  To  those 
from  whom  we  differ  in  opinion  we  attribute  the 
basest  motives  and  refuse  to  hear  any  good  of  them. 
But  this  is  not  the  way  of  Christ  :  He  believed  there 
were  some  drops  of  the  milk  of  human  kindness 
even  in  the  hard-hearted  Roman  soldiers  ;  and  He 
was  not  disappointed.* 

II. 

It  is  impossible  to  hear  this  pathetic  cry,  so  ex- 
pressive of  helplessness  and  dependence,  without 
recalling  other  words  of  our  Lord  to  which  it  stands 
in  marked  contrast.  Can  this  be  He  who,  standing 
in  Jerusalem  not  long  before,  surrounded  with  a 
great  multitude,  lifted  up  His  voice  and  cried,  "  If 
any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  Me  and  drink"  ? 
Can   it  be    He   who,  standing  at  the  well  of  Jacob 


*  Hoffmann  says  that  Jesus  refused  the  intoxicating  draught, 
before  the  crucifixion  began,  that  His  senses  nnight  be  kept  clear  ; 
and  that  now  He  accepted  the  refreshing  draught  for  the  same 
purpose. 


248  THE    TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

with  the  Samaiitan  woman  and  pointing  to  the 
springing  fountain  at  their  feet,  said,  "  Whosoever 
drinketh  of  this  water  shall  thirst  again  ;  but  who- 
soever drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall 
never  thirst  ;  but  the  water  that  I  shall  give  shall  be 
in  him  a  well  of  water  springing  up  into  everlasting 
life"  ?  Can  He  who  in  words  like  these  offered  to 
quench  the  thirst  of  the  world  be  the  same  who  now 
whispers  in  mortal  exhaustion,  "  I  thirst"  ? 

It  is  the  same  ;  and  this  is  a  contrast  which  runs 
through  His  whole  life,  the  contrast  between  inward 
wealth  and  outward  poverty.  He  was  able  to  en- 
rich the  whole  world,  yet  He  had  to  be  supported  by 
the  contributions  of  the  women  who  followed  Him  ; 
He  could  say,  "  I  am  the  bread  of  life,"  yet  He 
sometimes  hungered  for  a  meal  ;  He  could  promise 
thrones  and  mrany  mansions  to  those  who  believed 
on  Him,  yet  He  said  Himself,  "  Foxes  have  holes, 
and  the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests,  yet  the  Son  of 
man  hath  not  where  to  lay  His  head." 

In  a  materialistic  age,  when  in  so  many  circles 
money  Is  the  measure  of  the  man,  and  when  people 
are  so  excessively  concerned  about  what  they  shall 
eat  and  what  they  shall  drink  and  wherewithal  they 
shall  be  clothed,  it  is  worth  while  to  bear  this  con- 
trast in  mind.  Seldom  have  the  noblest  specimens 
of  humanity  been  those  who  have  been  able  to  wal- 


THE   FIFTH  WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS       249 

low  in  luxury  ;  and  the  men  who  have  enriched  the 
world  with  the  treasures  of  the  mind  have  not  infre- 
quently been  hardly  able  to  procure  daily  bread. 
Our  older  boys  may  have  seen  on  some  of  their 
school-books  the  name  of  Heyne,  His  is  an  im- 
mortal name  in  classical  scholarship  ;  but  when  he 
was  a  student,  and  even  when  he  was  enriching  the 
literature  of  his  country  with  splendid  editions  of 
the  ancient  writers,  he  was  literally  starving,  and 
had  sometimes  to  subsist  on  skins  of  apples  and 
other  offal  picked  up  from  the  streets.  Our  own 
Samuel  Johnson,  to  whose  wisdom  the  whole  globe 
is  now  a  debtor,  when  engaged  on  some  of  his 
greatest  works,  had  not  shoes  in  which  to  go  out, 
and  did  not  know  where  his  dinner  was  to  come 
from.  It  would  be  easy  from  history  to  multiply 
instances  of  those  who,  though  poor,  yet  have  made 
many  rich. 

The  inference  is  not,  that  one  must  be  poor  exter- 
nally if  one  desires  to  be  inwardly  rich.  The  mate- 
rially poor  are  not  all  spiritually  rich  by  any  means; 
multitudes  of  them,  alas,  are  as  poverty-stricken  in 
mind  and  character  as  in  physical  condition.  Per- 
haps one  might  even  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  as  a 
rule  the  inwardly  rich  enjoy  at  least  a  competent 
portion  of  th'e  good  things  of  this  life  ;  for  intelli- 
gence    and    character    have    even    a    market    value. 


250  THE    TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

Money,  too,  can  be  made  subservient  to  the  highest 
aims  of  the  soul.  But  what  it  is  essential  to  remem- 
ber is,  that  the  inward  is  the  true  wealth,  and  that 
we  must  seek  and  obtain  it,  even,  if  necessary,  at 
the  sacrifice  of  the  outward.  If  life  is  not  to  be  im- 
poverished and  materialised,  some  in  every  age 
must  make  the  choice  between  the  inward  and  the 
outward  wealth  ;  and  no  one  is  worthy  to  be  the 
servant  of  scholarship,  art  or  religion  who  is  not 
prepared  for  the  choice  should  it  fall  to  him.  It  is 
by  the  possession  of  intelligence,  generosity  and 
spiritual  power  that  we  enter  into  the  higher  ranks 
of  manhood  ;  and  the  most  Christlike  trait  of  all  is 
to  have  the  will  and  the  ability  to  overflow  in  influ- 
ences and  activities  which  sweeten  and  elevate  the 
lives  of  others. 


III. 


It  would  appear  that  some  of  those  round  the 
cross  were  opposed  to  granting  the  request  of  Jesus. 
Misunderstanding  the  fourth  word,*  they  supposed 
He  was  calling  for  Elijah  ;  and  they  proposed  not  to 
help  Him  even  with  a  drink  of  water,  in  order  to 
see  whether  or  not  Elijah  would  come  to  the  rescue. 
But 'in   one   man  the   impulse  of  humanity  was  too 

*  "  Eli,  Eli,"  etc. 


THE   FIFTH  ]VORD   FROM    THE    CROSS       251 

Strong,  and  he  gave  Jesus  what  He  desired.  We 
almost  love  the  man  for  it,  and  we  envy  his  office. 

But  the  Saviour  is  still  saying,  "  I  thirst."  How 
and  where  ?  Listen  !  "I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave 
Me  drink."  "  Lord,  when  saw  Vv^e  Thee  athirst  and 
gave  Thee  drink  ?"  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  unto 
one  of  the  least  of  these  My  brethren,  ye  did  it  unto 
Me."  Wherever  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  Jesus 
are  suffering,  sitting  in  lonely  rooms  and  wishing 
that  somebody  would  come  and  visit  them,  or  lying 
on  beds  of  pain  and  needing  somebody  to  come  and 
ease  the  pillow  or  to  reach  the  cup  to  the  dry  lips, 
there  Christ  is  saying,  "  I  thirst." 

Perhaps  He  is  saying  it  in  vain.  There  are  mul- 
titudes of  professing  Christians  who  never  from  end 
to  end  of  the  year  visit  any  poor  person.  They 
never  thread  the  obscure  streets  or  ascend  the  grimy 
stairs  in  search  of  God's  hidden  ones.  They  have 
never  acquired  the  art  of  cheering  a  dark  home  with 
a  flower,  or  a  hymn,  or  a  diet,  or  the  touch  of  a 
sympathetic  hand  and  the  smile  of  a  healthy  face. 
It  would  completely  alter  the  Christianity  of  many 
if  they  could  begin  to  do  these  lowly  services  ;  it 
would  put  reality  into  it,  and  it  would  bring  into 
the  heart  a  joy  and  exhilaration  hitherto  unknown. 
For  Christ  sees  to  it  that  none  who  thus  serve  Him 
lose    their    reward.     An    American    friend    told   me 


252  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

that  once,  when  travelling  on  the  continent  of  Eu- 
rope, he  fell  in  with  a  fellow-countryman  on  board 
a  Rhine  steamer.  They  talked  about  America  and 
soon  confided  to  each  other  from  which  parts  of  the 
country  they  came,  with  other  fragments  of  per- 
sonal detail.  They  continued  to  travel  for  some 
days  together,  and  my  informant  was  so  over- 
whelmed with  kindness  by  his  companion  that  at 
last  he  ventured  to  ask  the  reason.  "  Well,"  re- 
joined the  other,  "  when  the  War  was  going  on,  I 
was  serving  in  your  native  state  ;  and  one  day  our 
march  lay  through  the  town  in  which  you  have  told 
me  you  were  born.  The  march  had  been  very  pro- 
longed ;  it  was  a  day  of  intense  heat  ;  I  was  utterly 
fatigued  and  felt  on  the  point  of  dying  for  thirst, 
when  a  kind  woman  came  out  of  one  of  the  houses 
and  gave  me  a  glass  of  cold  water.  And  I  have 
been  trying  to  repay  through  you,  her  fellow-towns- 
man, the  kindness  she  showed  to  me."  Does  it  not 
remind  us  of  the  great  word  of  the  Son  of  God, 
"  Whosoever  shall  give  to  drink  unto  one  of  these 
little  ones  a  cup  of  cold  water  only  in  the  name  of  a 
disciple,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  he  shall  in  no  wise 
lose  his  reward"  ? 

But  is  this  not  enough  ?  Does  anyone  wish  to 
get  still  nearer  to  Christ  and  hold  the  cup  not  only 
to  Him  in  the  person  of  His  members  but  to  His  own 


THE   FIFTH   WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS       253 

very  lips  ?  Well,  this  is  possible  too.  Jesus  still 
says,  "  I  thirst,"  He  thirsts  for  love.  He  thirsts 
for  prayer.  He  thirsts  for  service.  He  thirsts  for 
holiness.  Whenever  the  heart  of  a  human  being 
turns  to  Him  with  a  genuine  impulse  of  penitence, 
affection  or  consecration,  the  Saviour  sees  of  the 
travail  of  His  soul  and  is  satisfied. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

THE  SIXTH  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS* 

LIKE  the  Fifth,  the  Sixth  Word  from  the  Cross 
is,  in  the  Greek,  literally  a  single  word  ;  and 
it  has  been  often  affirmed  to  be  the  greatest  single 
word  ever  uttered,  fit  may  be  said  to  comprehend 
in  itself  the  salvation  of  the  world  ;  and  thousands 
of  human  souls,  in  the  agony  of  conviction  or  in  the 
crisis  of  death,  have  laid  hold  of  it  as  the  drowning 
sailor  grasps  the  life-buoy Ji 

Sometimes  it  has  been  interpreted  as  merely  the 
last  sign  of  ebbing  life  :  as  if  the  meaning  were,  It 
is  all  over  ;  this  long  agony  of  pain  and  weakness  is 
done  at  last.  But  the  dying  words  of  Jesus  were 
not  spoken  in  this  tone.  The  Fifth  Word,  we  are 
expressly  told,  was  uttered  with  a  loud  voice  ;  so 
was  the  Seventh  ;  and,  although  this  is  not  express- 
ly stated  about  the   Sixth,  the  likelihood  is  that,  in 

*  "  It  is  finished." 


THE    SIXTH    WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS      255- 

this  respect,  it  resembled  the  other  two.     It  was  not 
a  cry  of  defeat,  but  of  victory. 

Both  the  suffering  of  our  Lord  and  His  work  were 
finishing  together  ;  and  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that 
He  was  referring  to  both.  Suffering  and  work  are 
the  two  sides  of  every  life,  the  one  predominating 
in  some  cases  and  the  other  in  others.  In  the  expe- 
rience of  Jesus  both  were  prominent  :  He  had  both 
a  great  work  to  accomplish  and  He  suffered  greatly 
in  the  process  of  achieving  it.  *But  now  both  have 
been  brought  to  a  successful  close  ;  and  this  is  what 
the  Sixth  Word  expresses.  It  is,  therefore,  first, 
the  Worker's  Cry  of  Achievement  ;  and,  secondly, 
the  Sufferer's  Cry  of  Relief. 


I. 


Christ,  when  on  earth,  had  a  great  work  on  hand, 
which  was  now  finished. 

This  dying  word  carries  us  back  to  the  first  word 
from  His  lips  which  has  been  preserved  to  us  : 
"  Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's 
business  ?"  Even  at  twelve  years  of  age  He  already 
knew  that  there  was  a  business  entrusted  to  Him  by 
His  Father  in  heaven,  about  which  His  thoughts 
had  to  be  occupied.  We  cannot  perhaps  say  that 
then   already  He   comprehended   it  in   its  whole  ex- 


256  THE   TRIAL  AXD  JJKA  .  //  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

tent.  It  was  to  grow  upon  Him  with  the  develop- 
ment of  His  manhood.  In  lonely  meditations  in  the 
fields  and  pastures  of  Nazareth  it  seized  and  in- 
spired His  mind.  As  He  cultivated  the  life  of  pray- 
er, it  became  moie  and  more  His  settled  purpose. 
The  more  He  became  acquainted  with  human  na- 
ture, and  with  the  character  and  the  needs  of  His 
own  age,  the  more  clearly  did  it  rise  before  Him. 
As  He  heard  and  read  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old 
Testament,  He  saw  it  hinted  and  foreshadowed  in 
type  and  symbol,  in  rite  and  institution,  in  law  and 
prophets.  There  He  found  the  programme  of  His 
life  sketched  out  beforehand  ;  and  perhaps  one  of 
His  uppermost  thoughts,  when  He  said,  "  It  is  fin- 
ished," was  that  all  which  had  been  foretold  about 
Him  in  the  ancient  Scriptures  had  been  fulfilled. 

After  His  public  life  commenced,  the  sense  of 
being  charged  with  a  task  which  He  had  to  fulfil 
was  one  of  the  master-thoughts  of  His  life.  It  was 
written  on  His  very  face  and  bodily  gait.  He  never 
had  the  easy,  indeterminate  air  of  one  who  does  not 
know  what  He  means  to  do  in  the  world.  "  I  have 
a  baptism,"  He  would  say,  "to  be  baptized  with, 
and  how  am  I  straitened  till  it  be  accomplished." 
In  a  rapt  moment,  at  the  w^ell  of  Sychar,  after  His 
interview  with  the  Samaritan  woman,  when  His  dis- 
ciples  proffered    Him   food,    He    put    it    away  from 


THE    SIXTH    WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS      257 

Him,  saying,  "  I  have  meat  to  eat  that  ye  know  not 
of,"  and  He  added,  "  My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of 
Him  that  sent  Me  and  to  finish  His  work."  On  His 
last  journey  to  Jerusalem,  as  He  went  on  in  front  of 
His  disciples,  they  were  amazed  and,  as  they  fol- 
lowed, they  were  afraid.  His  purpose  possessed 
Him  ;  He  was  wholly  in  it,  body,  soul  and  spirit. 
He  bestowed  on  it  every  scrap  of  power  He  pos- 
sessed, and  every  moment  of  His  time.  Looking 
back  now  from  the  close  of  life,  He  has  not  to  re- 
gret that  any  talent  has  been  either  abused  or  left 
unused.  All  have  been  husbanded  for  the  one  pur- 
pose and  all  lavished  on  the  work. 

What  was  this  work  of  Christ  ?  In  what  terms 
shall  we  express  it  ?  At  all  events  it  was  a  greater 
work  than  any  other  son  of  man  has  ever  attempted. 
Men  have  attempted  much,  and  some  of  them  have 
given  themselves  to  their  chosen  enterprises  with 
extraordinary  devotion  and  tenacity.  The  con- 
queror has  devoted  himself  to  his  scheme  of  sub- 
duing the  world  ;  the  patriot  to  the  liberation  of 
his  country  ;  the  philosopher  to  the  enlargement  of 
the  realm  of  knowledge  ;  the  inventor  has  rum- 
maged with  tireless  industry  among  the  secrets  of 
nature  ;  and  the  discoverer  has  risked  his  life  in 
opening  up  untrodden  continents  and  died  with  his 
face   to   his   task.     But  none  ever  undertook  a  task 


258  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 


worthy  to  be  compared  with  that  which  engrossed 
the  mind  of  Jesus. 

It  was  a  work  for  God  with  men,  and  it  was  a 
work  for  men  with  God, 

The  thought  that  it  was  a  work  for  God,  with 
which  God  had  charged  Him,  was  often  in  Christ's 
mouth,  and  this  consciousness  was  one  of  the  chief 
sources  of  His  inspiration.  "  I  must  work  the  work 
of  Him  that  sent  Me  while  it  is  day,"  He  would 
say  ;  or,  "  Therefore  doth  my  Father  love  Me,  be- 
cause I  do  always  those  things  which  please  Him." 
And,  at  the  close  of  His  life-work.  He  said,  in  words 
closely  related  to  those  of  our  text,  "  I  have  glori- 
fied Thee  on  the  earth,  I  have  finished  the  work 
which  Thou  gavest  Me  to  do."  This  was  His  task, 
to  glorify  God  on  the  earth — to  make  known  the 
Father  to  the  children  of  men. 

But  just  as  obviously  was  it  a  work  for  men  with 
God.  This  was  stamped  on  all  His  words  and  on 
the  entire  tenor  of  His  life.  He  was  bringing  men 
Dack  to  God,  and  He  had  to  remove  the  obstacles 
which  stood  in  the  way.  He  had  to  roll  away  the 
stone  from  the  sepulchre  in  which  humanity  was 
entombed  and  call  the  dead  to  come  forth.  He  had 
to  press  His  weight  against  the  huge  iron  gates  of 
human  guilt  and  doom  and  force  them  open.  He 
had  done  so  ;  and,  as  He  said,  "  It  is  finished,"  He 


THE    SIXTH    WORD  FROM    THE    CROSS      259 

was  at  the  same  time  saying  to  all  mankind,  "  Be- 
hold, I  have  set  before  you  an  open  door,  and  no 
man  can  shut  it." 

The  more  difficult  and  prolonged  any  task  is,  the 
greater  is  the  satisfaction  of  finishing  it.  Everyone 
knows  what  it  is,  aftep  accomplishing  anything  on 
which  a  great  deal  of  labour  has  been  bestowed  or 
the  accomplishment  of  which  has  been  delayed,  to  be 
able  to  say,  "  There,  it  is  finished  at  last."  In  the 
more  signal  efforts  of  human  genius  and  energy 
there  is  a  satisfaction  of  final  achievement  which 
warms  even  spectators  with  sympathy  at  the  dis- 
tance of  hundreds  of  years.  What  must  it  be  to  the 
poet,  after  equipping  himself  by  the  labours  of  a 
lifetime  with  the  stores  of  knowledge  and  the  skill 
in  the  use  of  language  requisite  for  the  composition 
of  a  "  Divine  Comedy"  or  a  "  Paradise  Lost,"  and 
after  wearing  himself  lean  for  many  yeais  at  his 
task,  to  be  able  at  last,  when  the  final  line  has  been 
penned,  to  write  Finis  at  the  bottom  of  his  perform- 
ance ?  What  must  it  have  been  to  Columbus,  after 
he  had  worn  his  life  out  in  seeking  the  patronage 
necessary  for  his  undertaking  and  endured  the  perils 
of  voyaging  in  stormy  seas  and  among  mutinous 
mariners,  to  see  at  last  the  sunlight  on  the  peak  of 
Darien  which  informed  him  that  his  dream  was  true 
and    his    lifework    accomplished  ?     When    we    read 


26o  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESTS  CHRIST 

how  William  Wilberforce,  the  champion  of  Slave 
Emancipation,  heard  on  his  deathbed,  a  few  hours 
before  he  breathed  his  last,  that  the  British  Legisla- 
ture had  agreed  to  the  expenditure  necessary  to 
secure  the  object  to  which  he  had  sacrificed  his  life, 
what  heart  can  refuse  its  tribute  of  sympathetic  joy, 
as  it  thinks  of  him  expiring  with  the  shouts  of  eman- 
cipated millions  in  his  ears  ?  These  are  feeble  sug- 
gestions of  the  triumph  with  which  Christ  saw, 
fallen  behind  Him,  His  accomplished  task,  as  He 
cried,  "It  is  finished." 

II. 

If  Jesus  had  during  life  a  vast  work  on  hand 
which  He  was  able  on  the  cross  to  say  He  had  fin- 
ished. He  was  in  quite  as  exceptional  a  degree  a 
sufferer  ;  yet  on  the  cross  He  was  able  to  say  that 
His  suffering  also  was  finished. 

Suffering  is  the  reverse  side  of  work.  It  is  the 
shadow  that  accompanies  achievement,  as  his  shadow 
follows  a  man.  It  is  due  to  the  resistance  offered  to 
the  worker  by  the  medium  in  which  he  toils. 

The  life  of  Jesus  was  one  of  great  suffering,  be- 
cause He  had  to  do  His  work  in  an  extremely  resist- 
ant medium.  His  purpose  was  so  beneficent,  and 
His  passion  for  the  good  of  the  world  so  obvious, 


THE    SIXTH    WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS      261 


that  it  might  have  been  expected  that  He  would 
meet  with  nothing  but  encouragement  and  further- 
ance. He  was  so  religious  that  all  the  religious 
forces  might  have  been  expected  to  second  His 
efforts  ;  He  was  so  patriotic  that  it  would  have  been 
natural  if  His  native  country  had  welcomed  Him 
with  open  arms  ;  He  was  so  philanthropic  that  He 
ought  to  have  been  the  idol  of  the  multitude.  But 
at  every  step  He  met  with  opposition.  Everything 
that  was  influential  in  His  age  and  country  turned 
against  Him.  Obstruction  became  more  and  more 
persistent  and  cruel,  till  at  length  on  Calvary  it 
reached  its  climax,  when  all  the  powers  of  earth  and 
hell  were  combined  with  the  one  purpose  of  crush- 
ing Him  and  thrusting  Him  out  of  existence.  And 
they  succeeded. 

But  the  mystery  of  suffering  is  very  insufficiently 
explained  when  it  is  defined  as  the  reaction  of  the 
work  on  the  worker.  While  a  man's  work  is  what 
he  does  with  the  force  of  his  will,  suffering  is  what 
is  done  to  him  against  his  will.  It  may  be  done  by 
the  will  of  opponents  and  enemies.  But  this  is 
never  the  whole  explanation.  Above  this  will, 
which  may  be  thoroughly  evil,  there  is  a  will  which 
is  good  and  means  us  good  by  our  suffering. 

Suffering  is  the  will  of  God.  It  is  His  chief  in- 
strument for  fashioning  His  creatures  according  to 


262  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

His  own  plan.  While  by  our  work  we  ought  to  be 
seeking  to  make  a  bit  of  the  world  such  as  He  would 
have  it  to  be,  by  our  suffering  He  is  seeking  to 
make  us  such  as  He  would  have  us  to  be.  He 
blocks  up  our  pathway  by  it  on  this  side  and  on 
that,  in  order  that  we  may  be  kept  in  the  path 
which  He  has  appointed.  He  prunes  our  desires 
and  ambitions  ;  He  humbles  us  and  makes  us  meek 
and  acquiescent.  By  our  work  we  help  to  make  a 
well-ordered  world,  but  by  our  suffering  He  miakes 
a  sanctified  man  ;  and  in  His  eyes  this  is  by  far  the 
greater  triumph. 

Perhaps  this  is  the  most  difficult  half  of  life  to 
manage.  While  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  accom- 
plish the  work  of  life,  it  is  harder  still  to  bear  suffer- 
ing and  to  benefit  by  it.  Have  you  ever  seen  a  man 
to  whom  nature  had  given  great  talents  and  grace 
great  virtues,  so  that  the  possibilities  of  his  life 
seemed  unbounded,  while  he  had  imagination 
enough  to  expatiate  over  them  :  a  man  who  might 
have  been  a  missionary,  opening  up  dark  countries 
to  civilisation  and  the  gospel  ;  or  a  statesman,  sway- 
ing a  parliament  with  his  eloquence  and  shaping  \.\\(\ 
destinies  of  millions  by  his  wisdom  ;  or  a  thinker, 
.  wrestling  with  the  problems  of  the  age,  sowing  the 
seeds  of  light,  and  raising  for  himself  an  imperish- 
able monument  :  but  who  was  laid  hold  of  by  some 


THE    SIXTH    WORD  FROM    THE    CROSS      263 

remorseless  disease  or  suddenly  crushed  by  some 
accident  ;  so  that  all  at  once  his  schemes  were  upset 
and  his  life  narrowed  to  petty  anxieties  about  his 
health  and  shifts  to  avoid  the  evil  day,  which  could 
not,  however,  be  long  postponed  ?  And  did  it  not 
seem  to  you,  as  you  watched  him,  to  be  far  harder 
for  him  to  accept  this  destiny  with  a  good  grace  and 
with  cheerful  submission  than  it  would  have  been 
to  accomplish  the  career  of  enterprise  and  achieve- 
ment which  once  seemed  to  lie  before  him  ?  To  do 
nothing  is  often  more  difficult  than  to  do  the  great- 
est things,  and  to  submit  requires  more  faith  than 
to  achieve. 

The  life  of  Christ  was  hemmed  and  crushed  in  on 
every  hand.  Evil  men  were  the  proximate  cause  of 
this  ;  but  He  acknowledged  behind  them  the  will  of 
God.  He  had  to  accept  a  career  of  shame  instead 
of  glory,  of  brief  and  limited  activity  instead  of  far- 
travelling  beneficence,  of  premature  and  violent 
death  instead  of  world-wide  and  everlasting  empire. 
But  He  never  murmured  ;  however  bitter  any  sacri- 
fice might  be  on  other  grounds.  He  made  it  sweet 
to  Himself  by  reflecting  that  it  was  the  will  of  His 
Father.  When  the  worst  came  to  the  worst,  and 
He  was  forced  to  cry,  "If  it  be  possible,  let  this 
cup  pass  from  Me,"  He  was  swift  to  add,  "  Never- 
theless   not    My   will,    but   Thine,   be   done."     And 


264  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

thus  on  step  after  step  of  the  ladder  His  thoughts 
were  brought  into  perfect  accord  with  His  Father's, 
and  His  will  with  His  Father's  will. 

At  last  on  the  cross  the  cup  out  of  which  He  had 
drunk  so  often  was  put  into  His  hands  for  the  last 
time.  The  draught  was  large,  black  and  bitter  as 
never  before.  But  He  did  not  flinch.  He  drank  it 
up.  As  He  did  so,  the  last  segment  of  the  circle  of 
His  own  perfection  completed  itself  ;  and,  while, 
flinging  the  cup  away  after  having  exhausted  the 
last  drop,  He  cried,  "It  is  finished,"  the  echo  came 
back  from  heaven  from  those  who  saw  with  wonder 
and  adoration  the  perfect  round  of  His  completed 
character,  "  It  is  finished.'' 

Though  these  two  sides  of  the  life  of  Christ  are 
separable  in  thought,  it  is  evident  that  they  consti- 
tute together  but  one  life.*  The  work  He  did  in- 
volved the  suffering  which  He  bore  and  lent  to  it 
meaning  and  dignity.  On  the  other  hand,  the  suf- 
fering perfected  the  Worker  and  thus  conferred 
greatness  on  His  work.  In  His  crowning  task  of 
atoning  for  the  sin  of  the  world  it  was  as  a  sufferer 
that  He  accomplished   the  will  ot   God.     And  now 


*  Sometimes   they  are  expressed  by  saying  that  life  is  both  a 
Mission  and  a  Discipline. 


THE    SIXTH  WORD  FROM    THE    CROSS      265 

both  are  finished  ;  and  henceforward  the  world  has 
a  new  possession  :  it  has  had  other  perfect  things  ; 
but  never  before  and  never  since  has  it  had  a  per- 
fect life. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

THE  SEVENTH  WORD  FROM  THE  CROSS* 

WHILE  all  the  words  of  dying  persons  are  full 
of  interest,  there  is  special  importance  at- 
tached to  the  last  of  them.  This  is  the  Last  Word 
of  Jesus  ;  and  both  for  this  reason  and  for  others  it 
claims  particular  attention. 

A  noted  Englishman  is  recorded  to  have  said, 
when  on  his  deathbed,  to  a  nephew,  "  Come  near 
and  see  how  a  Christian  can  die."  Whether  or  not 
that  was  a  wise  saying,  certainly  to  learn  how  to  die 
is  one  of  the  most  indispensable  acquirements  of 
mortals  ;  and  nowhere  can  it  be  learnt  so  well  as  by 
studying  the  death  of  Christ.  This  Last  Word 
especially  teaches  us  how  to  die.  It  will,  however, 
teach  us  far  more,  if  we  have  the  wit  to  learn  :  it 
contains  not  only  the  art  of  dying  but  also  the  art 
of  living. 

*  "  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  commend  My  spirit." 


THE    SEVENTH  WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS     267 


1. 


The  final  word  of  the  dying  Saviour  was  a  prayer. 

Not  all  the  words  from  the  cross  were  prayers. 
One  was  addressed  to  the  penitent  thief,  another  to 
His  mother  and  His  favourite  disciple,  and  a  third 
to  the  soldiers  who  were  crucifying  Him  ;  but  pray- 
er was  distinctly  the  language  of  His  dying  hours. 
It  was  not  by  chance  that  His  very  last  word  was  a 
prayer  ;  for  the  currents  within  Him  were  all  flow- 
ing Godv/ards. 

While  prayer  i.s  appropriate  for  all  times  and  sea- 
sons, there  are  occasions  when  it  is  singularly  ap- 
propriate. At  the  close  of  the  day,  when  we  are 
about  to  enter  into  the  state  of  sleep,  which  is  an 
image  of  death,  the  most  natural  of  all  states  of 
mind  is  surely  prayer.  In  moments  of  mortal  peril, 
as  on  shipboard  when  a  multitude  are  suddenly  con- 
fronted with  death,  an  irresistible  impulse  presses 
men  to  their  knees.  At  the  communion  table,  when 
the  breal  and  the  wine  are  circulating  in  silence, 
every  thoughtful  person  is  inevitably  occupied  with 
prayer.  But  on  a  death-bed  it  is  more  in  its  place 
than  anywhere  else.  Then  we  are  perforce  parting 
with  all  that  is  earthly — with  relatives  and  friends, 
with    business    and    propert}^  with    the  comforts   of 


268  THE    TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

home  and  the  face  of  the  earth.  How  natural  to 
lay  hold  of  what  alone  we  can  keep  hold  of  ;  and 
this  is  what  prayer  does  ;  for  it  lays  hold  of  God. 

It  is  so  natural  to  pray  then  that  prayer  might  be 
supposed  to  be  an  invariable  element  of  the  last 
scenes.  But  it  is  not  always.  A  death-bed  without 
God  is  an  awful  sight  ;  yet  it  does  occur.  The  cur- 
rents of  the  mind  may  be  flowing  so  powerfully 
earthward  that  even  then  they  cannot  be  diverted. 
There  are  even  death-beds  where  the  thought  of 
God  is  a  terror  which  the  dying  man  keeps  away  ; 
and  sometimes  his  friends  assist  him  to  keep  it 
away,  suffering  none  to  be  seen  and  nothing  to  be 
said  that  could  call  God  to  mind.  Natural  as  pray- 
er is,  it  is  only  so  to  those  who  have  learned  to  pray 
before.  It  had  long  been  to  Jesus  the  language  of 
life.  He  had  prayed  without  ceasing — on  the  moun- 
tain top  and  in  the  busy  haunts  of  men,  b}'  Himself 
and  in  company  with  others — and  it  was  only  the 
bias  of  the  life  asserting  itself  in  death  when,  as  He 
breathed  His  last.  He  turned  to  God. 

If,  then,  we  would  desire  our  last  words  to  be 
words  of  prayer,  we  should  commence  to  pray  at 
once.  If  the  face  of  God  is  to  shine  on  our  death- 
bed, we  must  now  acquaint  ourselves  with  Him  and 
be  at  peace.  If,  as  we  look  upon  the  dying  Christ  or 
on  the  dying  saints,  we  say,  "  Let  me  die  the  death 


THE    SEVENTH  WORD   EROM    THE    CROSS     269 

of  the  righteous,  and  let  my  last  end  be  like  his," 
then  we  must  begin  now  to  live  the  life  of  the  right- 
eous and  to  practise  its  gracious  habits. 


II. 


The  last  word  of  the  dying  Saviour  was  a  quota- 
tion from  Scripture. 

This  was  not  the  first  time  our  Lord  quoted  Scrip- 
ture on  the  cross  :  His  great  cry,  '  *  My  God,  My  God, 
why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me  ?"  was  likewise  borrowed 
from  the  Old  Testament,  and  it  is  possible  that 
there  is  Scriptural  allusion  in  others  of  the  Seven 
Words. 

If  prayer  is  natural  to  the  lips  of  the  dying,  so  is 
Scripture.  For  different  seasons  and  for  different 
uses  there  is  special  suitability  in  different  lan- 
guages and  literatures.  Latin  is  the  language  of 
law  and  scholarship,  French  of  conversation  and 
diplomacy,  German  of  philosophy,  English  of  com- 
merce. But  in  the  most  sacred  moments  and  trans- 
actions of  life  there  is  no  language  like  that  of  the 
Bible.  Especially  is  this  the  case  in  everything 
connected  with  death.  On  a  tombstone,  for  exam- 
ple, how  irrelevant,  as  a  rule,  seem  all  other  quota- 
tions, but  how  perfect  is  the  fitness  of  a  verse  from 


270  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Scripture.     And   on  a  death-bed  there  are  no  words 
which  so  well  become  the  dying  lips. 

This  is  strikingly  illustrated  by  the  following  ex- 
tract, guaranteed  as  authentic,  from  a  private 
diary  : — "  I  remember,  when  I  was  a  student,  visit- 
ing a  dying  man.  He  had  been  in  the  university 
with  me,  but  a  few  years  ahead  ;  and,  at  the  close 
of  a  brilliant  career  in  college,  he  was  appointed  to 
a  professorship  of  philosophy  in  a  colonial  univer- 
sity. But,  after  a  very  few  years,  he  fell  into  bad 
health  ;  and  he  came  home  to  Scotland  to  die.  It 
was  a  summer  Sunday  afternoon  when  I  called  to 
see  him,  and  it  happened  that  I  was  able  to  offer 
him  a  drive.  His  great  frame  was  with  difficulty 
got  into  the  open  carriage  ;  but  then  he  lay  back 
comfortably  and  was  able  to  enjoy  the  fresh  air. 
Two  other  friends  were  with  him  that  day — college 
companions,  who  had  come  out  from  the  city  to 
visit  him.  On  the  way  back  they  dropped  into  the 
rear,  and  I  was  alone  beside  him,  when  he  began  to 
talk  with  appreciation  of  their  friendship  and  kind- 
ness. '  But,'  he  said,  '  do  you  know  what  they  have 
been  doing  all  day  ? '  I  could  not  guess.  '  Well,' 
he  said,  '  they  have  been  reading  to  me  Sartor  Re- 
sartus ;  and  oh  !  I  am  awfully  tired  of  it.'  Then, 
turning  on  me  his  large  eyes,  he  began  to  repeat, 
*  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  accepta- 


THE    SE  VEX  Til  JVORD   FROM    THE    CROSS    271 

tion,  that  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save 
sinners,  of  whom  I  am  chief  ;  '  and  then  he  added 
with  great  earnestness,  '  There  is  nothing  else  of 
any  use  to  me  now.'  I  had  not  opened  the  subject 
at  all  :  perhaps  I  was  afraid  to  introduce  it  to  one 
whom  I  felt  to  be  so  much  my  superior  ;  but  I  need 
not  say  how  overjoyed  I  was  to  obtain  such  a 
glimpse  into  the  very  depths  of  a  great,  true 
mind."  Sartor  Resartus  is  one  of  the  best  of  books  ; 
there  are  few  to  be  so  heartily  recommended.  Yet 
there  are  moments  in  life — and  those  immediately 
before  death  are  among  them — when  even  such  a 
book  may  be  felt  to  be  irrelevant,  and,  indeed,  no 
book  is  appropriate  except  the  one  which  contains 
the  words  of  eternal  life. 

It  is  worth  noting  from  which  portion  of  the  Old 
Testament  Jesus  fetched  the  word  on  which  He 
stayed  up  His  soul  in  this  supreme  moment.  The 
quotation  is  from  the  thirty-first  Psalm.  The  other 
great  word  uttered  on  the  cross  to  which  I  have 
already  alluded  was  also  taken  from  one  of  the 
Psalms  —  the  twenty-second.  This  is  undoubtedly 
the  most  precious  of  all  the  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. It  is  a  book  penned  as  with  the  life  blood  of 
its  authors  ;  it  is  the  record  of  humanity's  profound- 
est  sorrows  and  sublimest  ecstasies  ;  it  is  the  most 
perfect  expression  which  has  ever  been  given  to  ex- 


272  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

perience  ;  it  has  been  the  vade-mecum  of  all  the 
saints  ;  and  to  know  and  love  it  is  one  of  the  best 
signs  of  spirituality. 

Jesus  knew  where  to  go  in  the  Bible  for  the  lan- 
guage that  suited  Him  ;  for  He  had  been  a  diligent 
student  of  it  all  His  days.  He  heard  it  in  the  home 
of  His  childhood  ;  He  listened  to  it  in  the  syna- 
gogue ;  probably  He  got  the  use  of  the  synagogue 
rolls  and  hung  over  it  in  secret.  He  knew  it 
through  and  through.  Therefore,  when  He  be- 
came a  preacher,  His  language  was  saturated  with 
it,  and  in  controversy,  by  the  apt  use  of  it,  He 
could  put  to  shame  those  who  were  its  professional 
students.  But  in  His  private  life  likewise  He  em- 
ployed it  in  every  exigency.  He  fought  with  it  the 
enemy  in  the  wilderness  and  overcame  him  ;  and 
now,  in  the  supreme  need  of  a  dying  hour,  it  stood 
Him  in  good  stead.  It  is  to  those  who,  like  Jesus, 
iiave  hidden  God's  Word  in  their  hearts  that  it  is  a 
present  help  in  every  time  of  need  ;  and,  if  we  wish 
to  stay  ourselves  upon  it  in  dying,  we  ought  to 
make  it  the  man  of  our  counsel  in  living. 

It  is  worth  observing  in  what  manner  Jesus  made 
this  quotation  from  the  Psalter  :  He  added  some- 
thing at  the  beginning  and  He  omitted  something 
at  the  close.  At  the  beginning  He  added,  "  Fa- 
ther."    This  is  not  in  the  psalm.     It  could  not  have 


THE    SEVEN rn   WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS    273 

been.  In  the  Old  Testament  the  individual  had  not 
begun  yet  to  address  God  by  this  name,  though 
God  was  called  the  Father  of  the  nation  as  a  whole. 
The  new  consciousness  of  God  which  Christ  intro- 
duced into  the  world  is  embodied  in  this  word,  and, 
by  prefixing  it  to  the  citation,  He  gave  the  verse  a 
new  colouring.  We  may,  then,  do  this  with  the 
Old  Testament  :  we  may  put  New-Testament  mean- 
ing into  it.  Indeed,  in  connection  with  this  very 
verse  we  have  a  still  more  remarkable  illustration  of 
the  same  treatment.  Stephen,  the  first  martyr  of 
Christianity,  was  in  many  respects  very  like  his 
Master,  and  in  his  martyrdom  closely  imitated  Him. 
Thus  on  the  field  of  death  he  repeated  Christ's 
prayer  for  His  enemies — "  Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to 
their  charge."  Also,  he  imitated  this  final  word, 
but  he  put  it  in  a  new  form,  "  Lord  Jesus,  receive 
my  spirit  ;"  that  is,  he  addressed  to  Christ  the 
dying  prayer  which  Christ  Himself  addressed  to  the 
Father.*     The   other  alteration   which   Jesus   made 

*  The  first  business  of  the  interpreter  of  Scripture  is  to  find 
out  precisely  what  every  verse  or  paragraph  meant  at  the  time 
and  place  v^rhere  it  was  written  ;  and  there  is  endless  profit  in  the 
exact  determination  of  this  original  application.  But,  whilst  the 
interpreter's  task  begins,  it  does  not  end  with  this.  The  Bible 
is  a  book  for  every  generation  ;  and  the  deduction  of  the  mes- 
sage which  it  is  intended  to  convey  to  the  present  day  is  as  truly 
the  task  of  the  interpreter.     There  is  a  species  of  exegesis,  some- 


2  74  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

was  the  omission  of  the  words,  "for  Thou  ha^t 
redeemed  me."  It  would  not  have  been  fitting  for 
Him  to  employ  them.  But  we  will  not  omit  them  ; 
and  if,  like  Stephen,  we  address  the  prayer  to  Christ, 
how  much  richer  and  more  pathetic  are  the  words 
to  us  than  they  were  even  to  him  who  first  penned 
them. 


III. 


It  was  about  His  spirit  that  the  dying  Saviour 
prayed. 

Dying  persons  are  sometimes  much  taken  up  with 
their  bodies.  Their  pain  and  trouble  may  occasion 
this,  and  the  prescriptions  of  the  physician  may  re- 
quire close  attention.  Some  display  a  peculiar  anx- 
iety even  about  what  is  to  happen  to  the  body  after 
the  life  has  left  it,  giving  the  minutest  instructions 
as  to  their  own  obsequies.  Not  infrequently  the 
minds  of  the  dying  are  painfully  occupied  with  their 
worldly  affairs  :  they  have  their  property  to  dispose 
of,  and  they  are  distracted  with  anxieties  about 
their  families.  The  example  of  Jesus  shows  that  it 
is  not  wrong  to  bestow  attention  on  these  things 
even  on  a  deathbed  ;  for  His  fifth  word,  "  I  thirst," 

times  arrogating  to  itself  the  sole  title  to  be  considered  scientific, 
by  which  the  garden  of  Scripture  is  transmuted  into  an  herbarium 
of  withered  specimens. 


THE    SEVENTH   WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS     275 


had  reference  to  His  own  bodily  necessities  ;  and, 
whilst  hanging  on  the  cross,  He  made  provision  for 
His  mother's  future  comfort.  But  His  supreme 
concern  was  His  spirit  ;  to  the  interests  of  which 
He  devoted  His  final  prayer. 

What  is  the  spirit  ?  It  is  the  finest,  highest, 
sacredest  part  of  our  being.  In  modern  and  ordi- 
nary language  we  call  it  the  soul,  when  we  speak  of 
man  as  composed  of  body  and  soul  ;  but  in  the 
language  of  Scripture  it  is  distinguished  even 
from  the  soul  as  the  most  lofty  and  exquisite  part 
of  the  inner  man.  It  is  to  the  rest  of  our  nature 
what  the  flower  is  to  the  plant  or  what  the  pearl 
is  to  the  shell.  It  is  that  within  us  which  is 
specially  allied  to  God  and  eternity.  It  is  also, 
however,  that  which  sin  seeks  to  corrupt  and 
our  spiritual  enemies  seek  to  destroy.  No  doubt 
these  are  specially  active  in  the  article  of  death  ;  it 
is  their  last  -chance  ;  and  fain  would  they  seize  the 
spirit  as  it  parts  from  the  body  and,  dragging  it 
down,  rob  it  of  its  destiny.  Jesus  knew  that  He 
was  launching  out  into  eternity  ;  and,  plucking  His 
spirit  away  from  these  hostile  hands  which  were 
eager  to  seize  it,  He  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  God. 
There  it  was  safe.  Strong  and  secure  are  the  hands 
of  the  Eternal.  They  are  soft  and  loving  too. 
With  what  a  passion  of  tenderness  must  they  have 


276  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

received  the  spirit  of  Jesus.  "  I  have  covered 
thee,"  said  God  to  His  servant  in  an  ancient  proph- 
ecy, "  in  the  shadow  of  My  hand  ;"  and  now  Jesus, 
escaping  from  all  the  enemies,  visible  and  invisible, 
by  whom  He  was  beset,  sought  the  fulfilment  of  this 
prophecy. 

This  is  the  art  of  dying  ;  but  is  it  not  also  the  art 
of  living  ?  The  spirit  of  every  son  of  Adam  is 
threatened  by  dangers  at  death  ;  but  it  is  threat- 
ened with  them  also  in  life.  As  has  been  said,  it  is 
our  flower  and  our  pearl  ;  but  the  flower  may  be 
crushed  and  the  pearl  may  be  lost  long  before  death 
arrives.  "The  flesh  lusteth  against  the  spirit." 
So  does  the  world.  Temptation  assails  it,  sin  de- 
files it.  No  better  prayer,  therefore,  could  be 
offered  by  a  living  man,  morning  by  morning,  than 
this  of  the  dying  Saviour.  Happy  is  he  who  can 
say,  in  reference  to  his  spirit,  "  I  know  whom  I 
have  believed,  and  I  am  persuaded  that  He  is  able 
to  keep  that  which  I  have  committed  to  Him  against 
that  day." 

IV. 

This  last  word  of  the  expiring  Saviour  revealed 
His  view  of  death. 

The  word  used  by  Jesus  in  commending  His  spirit 
to  God    implies   that    He  was  giving  it  away  in  the 


THE    SEVENTH  WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS    277 

hope  of  finding  it  again.  He  was  making  a  deposit 
in  a  safe  place,  to  which,  after  the  crisis  of  death 
was  over,  He  would  come  and  recover  it.  Such  is 
the  force  of  the  word,  as  is  easily  seen  in  the  quota- 
tion just  made  from  St.  Paul,  where  he  says  that  he 
knows  that  God  will  keep  that  which  he  has  com- 
mitted to  Him — using  the  same  word  as  Jesus — 
"against  that  day."*  Which  day?  Obviously 
some  point  in  the  future  when  he  could  appear  and 
claim  from  God  that  which  he  had  entrusted  to 
Him.  Such  a  date  was  also  in  Christ's  eye  when 
He  said,  "  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  commend  my 
spirit."  Death  is  a  disruption  of  the  parts  of  which 
human  nature  is  composed.  One  part — the  spirit — 
was  going  away  to  God  ;  another  was  in  the  hands 
of  men,  who  were  wreaking  on  it  their  wicked  will  ; 
and  it  was  on  its  way  to  the  house  appointed  for  all 
living.  But  Jesus  was  looking  forward  to  a  reunion 
of  the  separated  parts,  when  they  would  again  find 
each  other,  and  the  integrity  of  the  personal  life  be 
restored. 

The  most  momentous  question  which  the  dying  can 
ask,  or  which  the  living  can  ask  in  the  prospect  of 
death,  is,  **  If  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again  ?"  does 
he  all  die  ?  and  does  he  die  forever  ?     There  is  a  ter- 

*  Christ's  word  is  TraijariQsfiac,  and  St.  Paul's,  2  Tim.  i.  12, 
TTjV  Ti  a  I  jaOr/KTjv  fiov,  according  to  the  best  reading. 


278  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

rible  doubt  in  the  human  heart  that  it  may  be  so  ; 
and  there  have  never  been  wanting  teachers  who 
have  turned  this  doubt  into  a  dogma.  They  hold 
that  mind  is  only  a  form  or  a  function  of  matter, 
and  that,  therefore,  in  the  dissolution  of  the  bodily 
materials,  man  dissolves  and  mixes  with  the  mate- 
rial universe.  Others,  while  holding  fast  the  dis- 
tinction between  mind  and  matter,  have  taught 
that,  as  the  body  returns  to  the  dust,  the  mind  re- 
turns to  the  ocean  of  being,  in  which  its  personality 
is  lost,  as  the  drop  is  in  the  sea,  and  there  can  be  no 
reunion.  There  is,  however,  something  high  and 
sacred  within  us  that  rebels  against  these  doctrines  ; 
and  the  best  teachers  of  the  race  have  encouraged 
us  to  hope  for  something  better.  Still,  their  assur- 
ances have  been  hesitating  and  their  own  faith  ob- 
scure. It  is  to  Christ  we  have  to  go  :  He  has  the 
words  of  eternal  life.  He  spoke  on  this  subject 
without  hesitation  or  obscurity  ;  and  His  dying 
word  proves  that  He  believed  for  Himself  what  He 
taught  to  others.  Not  only,  however,  has  He  by 
His  teaching  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  : 
He  is  Himself  the  guarantee  of  the  doctrine  ;  for 
He  is  our  immortal  life.  Because  we  are  united  to 
Him  we  know  we  can  never  perish  ;  nothing,  not 
even  death,  can  separate  us  from  His  love  ;  *'  Be- 
cause I  live,"  He  has  said,  "  ye  shall  live  also." 


THE    SE  VEX  Til  WORD   FROM    THE    CROSS     279 

It  may  be  that  in  a  very  literal  sense  we  have  in 
the  study  of  this  sentence  been  learning  the  art  of 
dying  :  these  may  be  our  own  dying  words.  They 
have  been  the  dying  words  of  many.  When  John 
Huss  was  being  led  to  execution,  there  was  stuck 
on  his  head  a  paper  cap,  scrawled  over  with  pictures 
of  devils,  to  whom  the  wretched  priests  by  whom 
he  was  surrounded  consigned  his  soul  ;  but  again 
and  again  he  cried,  "  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  com- 
mend my  spirit."  These  were  also  the  last  words 
of  Polycarp,  of  Jerome  of  Prague,  of  Luther,  of 
Melanchthon,  and  of  many  others.  Who  could  wish 
his  spirit  to  be  carried  away  to  God  in  a  more  glori- 
ous vehicle  ?  But,  whether  or  not  we  may  use  this 
prayer  in  death,  let  us  diligently  make  use  of  it  in 
life.  Close  not  the  book  without  breathing,  "  Fa- 
ther, into  Thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit." 


T 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

THE  SIGNS 

HERE  are  indications  that  to  some  of  those 
-■-  who  took  part  in  the  crucifixion  of  Christ  His 
death  presented  hardly  anything  to  distinguish  it 
from  an  ordinary  execution  ;  and  there  were  others 
who  were  anxious  to  believe  that  it  had  no  features 
which  were  extraordinary.  But  God  did  not  leave 
His  Son  altogether  without  witness.  The  end  of 
the  Saviour's  sufferings  was  accompanied  by  certain 
signs,  which  showed  the  interest  excited  by  them  in 
the  world  unseen. 

I. 

The  first  sign  was  the  rending  of  the  veil  of  the 
temple  This  was  a  heavy  curtain  covering  the  en- 
trance to  the  Holy  Place  or  the  entrance  to  the 
Holy  of  Holies — most  probably  the  latter.  Both 
entrances  were  thus  protected,  and  Josephus  gives 
the    following    description   of  one   of    the   curtains, 


THE    SIGNS  281 


which  will  probably  convey  a  fair  idea  of  either  : 
five  ells  high  and  sixteen  broad,  of  Babylonian  text- 
ure, and  wonderfully  stitched  of  blue,  white,  scarlet 
and  purple — representing  the  universe  in  its  four 
elements — scarlet  standing  for  fire  and  blue  for  air 
by  their  colours,  and  the  white  linen  for  earth  and 
the  purple  for  sea  on  account  of  their  derivation, 
the  one  from  the  flax  of  the  earth  and  the  other 
from  the  shellfish  of  the  sea. 

The  fact  that  the  rent  proceeded  from  top  to  bot- 
tom was  considered  to  indicate  that  it  was  made  by 
the  finger  of  God  ;  but  whether  any  physical  means 
may  have  been  employed  we  cannot  tell.  Some 
have  thought  of  the  earthquake,  which  took  place 
at  the  same  moment,  as  being  connected  with  it 
through  the  loosening  of  a  beam  or  some  similar 
accident.* 

At  critical  moments  in  history,  when  the  minds  of 
men  are  charged  with  excitement,  even  slight  acci- 
dents may  assume  remarkable  significance,  f     Such 

*  "  May  this  phenomenon  account  for  the  eady  conversion  of 
so  many  priests  recorded  in  Acts  vi.  7?" — Edersheim. 

f  Shakespeare  is  very  fond  of  describing  the  portents  by  which 
remarkable  events  are  foreshadowed.  Thus,  Julius  Ccesar,  Act 
I.  Scene  ii.  : — 

"  O  Cicero, 
I  have  seen  tempests,  when  the  scolding  winds 
Have  rived  the  knotty  oaks  ;  and  I  have  seen 
Th'  ambitious  ocean  swell  and  rage  and  foam, 


282  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

incidents  occur  at  turning  points  of  the  life  even  of 
individuals.*  They  derive  their  significance  from 
the  emotion  with  which  the  minds  of  observers  hap- 
pen at  the  time  to  be  filled.  No  doubt  the  rending 
of  the  temple  veil  might  appear  to  some  a  pure  acci- 
dent, while  in  the  minds  of  others  it  crystallised 
a  hundred  surging  thoughts.  But  we  must  ascribe 
to  it  a  higher  dignity  and  a  divine  intention. 

To  be  exalted  with  the  threatening  clouds  ; 

But  never  till  to-night,  never  till  now 

Did  I  go  through  a  tempest  dropping  fire. 

A  common  slave— you  know  him  well  by  sight — 

Held  up  his  left  hand,  which  did  flame  and  burn 

Like  twenty  torches  joined  ;  and  yet  his  hand, 

Not  sensible  of  fire,  remained  unscorched. 

Besides — I  ha'  not  since  put  up  my  sword — 

Against  the  Capitol   I  met  a  lion. 

Who  glared  upon  me  and  went  surly  by. 

Without  annoying  me.     And  there  were  drawn 

Upon  a  heap  an  hundred  ghastly  women, 

Transformed  with  their  fear,  who  swore  they  saw 

Men,  all  in  fire,  walk  up  and  down  the  streets. 

And  yesterday  the  bird  of  night  did  sit 

Even  at  noonday  upon  the  marketplace, 

Hooting  and  shrieking.     When  these  prodigies 

Do  so  conjointly  meet,  let  not  men  say, 

'  These  are  their  reasons — they  are  natural,' 

For  I  believe  they  are  portentous  things 

Unto  the  climate  that  they  point  upon," 

See  also  Act  II.,  Scene  ii.,  and  Act  V.,  Scene  i.  of  the  same 
play  ;  Macbeth,  Act  II  ,  Scene  ii.;  Hamlet,  Act  I.,  Scene  i.  Such 
impressions  are  not,  however,  even  in  modern  times,  confined  to 
■poetry  alone.  Historical  instances  will  suggest  themselves  to 
every  reader, 

*  Some  of  the  most  interesting  1  have  read  occur  in  a  brief 
memoir  of  the  founder  of  the  Bagster  Publishing  Company  issued 
on  the  centenary  of  its  opening. 


THE    SIGNS  283 


Like  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  in  the  wilderness, 
it  had  a  double  face — one  of  judgment  and  another 
of  mercy. 

It  betokened  the  desecration  of  the  shrine  and  the 
exodus  of  the  Deity  from  the  temple  whose  day  of 
opportunity  and  usefulness  was  over.  And  it  is 
curious  to  note  how  at  the  time  not  only  the  Chris- 
tian but  even  the  Jewish  mind  was  big  with  this 
thought.  There  is  a  Jewish  legend  in  Josephus, 
which  is  referred  to  also  by  the  Roman  historian 
Tacitus,  that  at  the  Passover  some  years  after  this 
the  east  door  of  the  inner  court  of  the  temple,  which 
was  so  heavy  that  twenty  men  were  required  to  close 
it,  and  was,  besides,  at  the  moment  strongly  locked 
and  barred,  suddenly  at  midnight  flew  open  ;  and, 
the  following  Pentecost,  the  priests  whose  duty  it 
was  to  guard  the  court  by  night,  heard  first  a  rush- 
ing noise  as  of  hurrying  feet  and  then  a  loud  cry,  as 
of  many  voices,  saying,  "  Let  us  depart  from  hence." 

Nor  was  it  only  in  Palestine  that  in  that  age  the 
air  was  charged  with  the  impression  that  a  turning- 
point  in  "history  had  been  reached,  and  that  the  an- 
cient world  was  passing  away.  Plutarch  *  heard  a 
singular  story  of  one   Epitherses  from   the  rhetoii- 


*  De  O/aculoriim  Defectu,  quoted  by  Heubner  in  his  commen- 
tary, in  loc. 


284  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

cian  ^milianus,  who  had  it  from  the  man's  father. 
On  a  certain  occasion  this  Epitherses  happened  to 
be  a  passenger  on  board  a  ship  which  got  becalmed 
among  the  Echinades.  As  it  stood  near  one  of  the 
islands,  suddenly  there  came  from  the  shore  a  voice, 
loud  and  clear,  calling  Thamus,  the  pilot,  an  Egyp- 
tian, by  his  name.  Twice  he  kept  silence  ;  but, 
when  the  call  came  the  third  time,  he  replied  ; 
whereupon  the  voice  cried  still  louder,  "  When  you 
come  to  the  Paludes,  proclaim  that  the  great  Pan  is 
dead."  Pan  being  the  god  of  nature  in  that  an- 
cient world,  all  who  heard  were  terrified,  and  they 
debated  whether  or  not  they  should  obey  the  com- 
mand. At  last  it  was  agreed  that  if,  when  they 
came  to  the  Paludes,  it  was  windy,  they  were  not  to 
obey,  but,  if  calm,  they  would.  It  turned  out  to 
be  calm  ;  and,  accordingly,  the  pilot,  standing  on 
the  prow  of  the  vessel,  shouted  out  the  words  ; 
whereupon  the  air  was  filled,  not  wuth  an  echo,  but 
the  loud  groaning  of  a  great  multitude  mingled  with 
surprise.*  The  pilot  was  called  before  the  Emperor 
Tiberius,  who  strictly  enquired  into  the  truth  of  the 
incident. 

Such   was   the   meaning  of  the  rending  of  the  veil 
on   its  dark   side  :   it   denoted   that  the  reign  of  the 

*  ortvayiihq  ufia  Qav/j.aafj.o). 


THE    SIGNS  285 


gods  was  over  and  that  Jerusalem  was  no  longer  to 
be  the  place  where  men  ought  to  worship.  But  it 
had  at  the  same  time  a  bright  side  ;  and  this  was 
the  side  for  the  sake  of  which  the  incident  was 
treasured  by  the  friends  of  Jesus.  It  meant,  as  St. 
Paul  says,  that  the  wall  between  Jew  and  Gentile 
had  been  broken  down.  It  meant,  as  is  set  forth  in 
the  noble  argument  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
that  the  system  of  ceremonies  and  intermediaries  by 
which  under  the  Old  Testament  the  worshipper 
might  approach  God  and  yet  was  kept  at  a  distance 
from  Him  had  been  swept  away.  The  heart  of  God 
is  now  fully  revealed,  and  it  is  a  heart  of  love  ;  and, 
at  the  same  time,  the  heart  of  man,  liberated  by  the 
sacrifice  of  Christ  from  the  conscience  of  sin,  as  it 
could  never  be  by  the  offering  of  bulls  and  goats, 
can  joyfully  venture  into  the  divine  presence  and  ^o 
out  and  in  with  the  freedom  of  a  child.  "  Having 
therefore,  brethren,  boldness  to  enter  into  the  holi- 
est by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  by  a  new  and  living  way, 
which  He  hath  consecrated  for  us,  through  the  veil 
— that  is  to  say,  His  flesh — and  having  a  High  Priest 
over  the  house  of  God,  let  us  draw  near  with  a  true 
heart  in  full  assurance  of  faith."  * 


*  Heb.  X.  19-22. 


2  86  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 


II. 


The  second  sign  was  the  resurrection  of  certain 
of  the  dead — "  The  graves  were  opened,  and  many 
bodies  of  the  saints  which  slept  arose  and  came  out 
of  the  graves  after  His  resurrection,  and  went  into 
the  holy  city  and  appeared  unto  many," 

Whether  or  not  the  rending  of  the  veil  in  the  tem- 
ple was  connected  with  the  earthquake,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  this  second  sign  was.  The  graves  in 
Palestine  were  caves  in  the  rocks,  the  mouths  of 
which  were  closed  with  great  stones.  Some  of  these 
stones  were  shaken  from  their  places  by  the  earth- 
quake ;  and  the  bodies  themselves,  which  lay  on 
shelves  or  stood  upright  in  niches,  may  have  been 
disturbed.  But  in  some  of  them  a  greater  disturb- 
ance occurred  :  besides  the  external  shaking  there 
took  place  within  them  a  motion  of  the  life-giving 
breath  of  God. 

In  the  minds  of  many  devout  scholars  this  mira- 
cle has  excited  suspicion  on  several  accounts.  They 
say  it  is  contrary  to  the  teaching  of  Scripture  else- 
where, according  to  which  Christ  was  the  firstfruits 
of  them  that  slept.  If  these  dead  bodies  were  re- 
animated at  the  moment  of  this  earthquake,  they, 
and  not  He,  were  the  firstfruits.     To  this  it  is  an- 


THE    SIGNS  287 


swered  that  St.  Matthew  is  careful  to  note  that  they 
came  out  of  their  graves  "  after  His  resurrection"  ; 
so  that  St.  Matthew  still  agrees  with  St.  Paul  in 
making  Christ  the  first  to  rise.  But,  then,  it  is 
asked,  in  what  condition  were  they  between  their 
reanimation  and  their  resurrection  ?  The  Evangel- 
ist appears  to  state  that  they  rose  from  death  to  life 
at  the  moment  of  the  earthquake,  but  did  not 
emerge  from  the  tomb  till  the  third  day  afterwards, 
when  Christ  had  risen.  Is  this  credible  ?  or  is  it  an 
apocryphal  marvel,  which  has  been  interpolated  in 
the  text  of  St.  Matthew  ?  The  other  Evangelists, 
while,  along  with  St.  Matthew,  narrating  the  rend- 
ing of  the  veil,  do  not  touch  on  this  incident  at  all. 
The  whole  representation,  it  is  argued,  lacks  the 
sobriety  which  is  characteristic  of  the  authentic 
miracles  of  the  Gospels  and  broadly  separates  them 
from  the  ecclesiastical  miracles,  about  which  there 
is  generally  an  air  of  triviality  and  grotesqueness. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  indication  in  the 
oldest  and  best  manuscripts  of  St.  Matthew  that 
this  is  an  interpolation  ;  and  many  of  the  acutest 
minds  have  felt  this  trait  to  be  thoroughly  congru- 
ous and  suitable  to  its  place.  If,  they  contend.  He 
who  had  just  died  on  Calvary  was  what  He  gave 
Himself  out  and  we  believe  Him  to  be.  His  death 
must  have   excited    the   piofoundest   commotion   in 


288  THE    TRIAL  AND  DEA  TH  OE  /ESUS  CHRIST 

the  kingdoms  of  the  dead.  The  world  of  living 
men  and  women  was  insensible  to  the  character  of 
the  event  which  was  taking  place  before  its  eyes  ; 
but  the  world  unseen  was  agitated  as  it  never  had 
been  before  and  never  was  to  be  again.  It  was  not 
unnatural,  but  the  reverse,  that  some  of  the  dead, 
in  their  excitement  and  eagerness,  should  even  press 
back  over  the  boundaries  of  the  other  world,  in 
order  to  be  in  the  world  where  Christ  was.  The 
question  where  they  were  or  what  they  were  doing 
between  their  reanimation  and  resurrection  is  a 
triviality  not  worth  considering.  At  all  events,  they 
rose  after  their  Lord  ;  and  was  it  not  appropriate 
that  when,  after  the  forty  days.  He  ascended  to 
heaven,  there  to  be  received  by  rejoicing  angels  and 
archangels.  He  should  not  only  appear  in  the  flesh, 
but  be  accompanied  by  specimens  of  what  His  resur- 
rection power  was  ultimately  to  do  for  all  believers  ? 
If  it  be  asked  who  the  favoured  saints  were  to  whom 
this  blessed  priority  was  vouchsafed,  we  cannot  tell. 
The  dust,  however,  was  not  far  away  of  many  whom 
the  Lord  might  delight  to  honour — patriarchs, 
like  Abraham  ;  kings,  like  David  ;  prophets,  like 
Isaiah. 

But  the  true  significance  of  this  sign  is  not  de- 
pendent on  such  speculations.  Even  if  it  should 
ever  be  discovered,  as   it  is  not  in  the  least  likely  to 


THE    SIGNS  289 

be,  that  this  story  was  interpolated  in  St.  Matthew, 
and  we  should  be  driven  to  the  conclusion  that  it 
was  invented  by  the  excited  fancy  of  the  primitive 
Christians,  even  then  we  should  have  to  ask  what 
caused  txiem  to  invent  it.  And  the  only  possible 
answer  would  be,  that  it  was  the  force  of  the  convic- 
tion burning  within  them  that  by  His  death  and 
resurrection  Christ  had  opened  the  gates  of  death  to 
all  the  saints.  This  was  the  glorious  faith  which 
was  begotten  by  the  experiences  of  those  never-to- 
be  forgotten  days,  whether  the  sight  of  these  resur- 
rected saints  played  any  part  or  not  in  maturing  it  ; 
and  it  is  now  the  faith  of  the  Church  and  the  faith 
of  mankind. 

This  may  well  be  called  the  rending  of  another 
veil.  If  in  the  ancient  world  there  was  a  veil  on  the 
face  of  God,  there  was  a  veil  likewise  on  the  face  of 
eternity.*  The  home  of  the  soul  was  hidden  from 
the  children  of  men.  They  vaguely  surmised  it,  in- 
deed ;  they  could  never  believe  that  they  were 
wholly  dust.  But,  apart  from  Christ,  the  specula- 
tions even  of  the  wisest  as  to  the  other  world  are 
hardly  more  correct  or  certain  than  might  be  the 
speculations  of  infants  in  the  womb  as  to  the  condi- 


■*  So   the   ignorance  of  immortality  is  expressly  called  in  the 
beautiful  passage,  Isa.  xxv.  7. 


290  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

tion  of  this  world.*  Christ,  on  the  contrary,  always 
spoke  of  the  world  invisible  with  the  freedom  and 
confidence  of  one  to  whom  it  was  native  and  well 
known  ;  and  His  resurrection  and  ascension  afford 
the  most  authentic  glimpses  into  the  realm  of  im- 
mortality which  the  world  has  ever  received. 

In  this  sign,  indeed,  it  is  with  the  death  and  not 
with  the  resurrection  that  this  authentication  is  con- 
nected. But  the  resurrection  of  Christ  is  allied  in 
the  most  intimate  manner  with  His  death.  It  was 
the  public  recognition  of  His  righteousness.  Since, 
however.  He  died  not  for  Himself  alone,  but  as  a 
public  person.  His  mystical  body  has  the  same  right 
to  resurrection,  and  in  due  time  it  will  be  made 
manifest  that,  He  having  discharged  every  claim  on 
their  behalf,  death  has  now  no  right  to  detain  them. 


III. 


The  first  sign  was  in  the  physical  world  ;  the  sec- 
ond was   in   the   underworld   of  the   dead  ;  but    the 

*  Sir  Thomas  Browne.  Hydro  tap  Iiia,  chap,  iv.:  "A  dialogue 
between  two  infants  in  the  womb  concerning  the  state  of  this 
world  might  handsomely  illustrate  our  ignorance  of  the  next, 
where,  methinks,  we  still  discourse  in  Plato's  den,  and  are  but 
embryo  philosophers." 


THE    SIGNS  291 


third  was  in  the  common  world  of  living  men.  This 
was  the  acknowledgment  of  Christ  by  the  centurion 
who  superintended  His  crucifixion. 

Whether,  like  the  preceding  signs,  this  third  one 
is  to  be  connected  with  the  earthquake  is  a  ques- 
tion. -Probably  the  answer  ought  to  be  in  the 
affirmative.  The  sensation  produced  by  an  earth- 
quake is  like  nothing  else  in  nature  ;  and  its  first 
effect  on  an  unsophisticated  mind  is  to  create  the 
sense  that  God  is  near.  Probably,  therefore,  the 
earthquake  was  felt  by  the  centurion  to  be  the 
divine  Amen  to  the  thoughts  which  had  been  rising 
in  his  mind,  and  it  gave  them  a  speedy  and  com- 
plete delivery  in  his  confession. 

This  confession  was,  however,  the  result  of  his 
observation  of  Jesus  throughout  His  whole  trial  and 
the  subsequent  proceedings  ;  and  it  is  an  eloquent 
tribute  to  our  Lord's  behaviour.  The  centurion 
may  have  been  at  the  side  of  Jesus  from  the  arrest 
to  the  end.  Through  those  unparalleled  hours  he 
had  observed  the  rage  and  injustice  of  His  enemies  ; 
and  he  had  marked  how  patient,  unretaliating,  gen- 
tle and  magnanimous  He  had  been.  He  had  heard 
Him  praying  for  His  crucifiers,  comforting  the  thief 
on  the  cross,  providing  for  His  mother,  communing 
with  God.  More  and  more  his  interest  was  excited 
and  his  heart  stirred,  till  at  last  he  was  standing  op- 


292  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 


posite  the  cross, '^  drinking  in  every  syllable  and  de- 
vouring every  movement  ;  and,  when  the  final  prayer 
was  uttered  and  the  earthquake  answered  it,  his  ris- 
ing conviction  brimmed  over  and  he  could  not  with- 
hold his  testimony. 

St.  Luke  makes  him  say  only,  "  This  was  a  right- 
eous man,"  while  the  others  report,  "  This  w^as  the 
Son  of  God."  But  St,  Luke's  may  include  theirs  ; 
because,  if  the  centurion  meant  to  state  that  the 
claims  of  Jesus  were  just,  what  were  His  claims  ? 
At  Pilate's  judgment-seat  he  had  heard  it  stated 
that  Jesus  claimed  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  and  per- 
haps he  had  heard  Him  make  this  claim  Himself  in 
reply  to  Pilate's  question.  This  name,  along  with 
others  like  it,  had  been  hurled  at  Jesus,  in  his  hear- 
ing, by  those  standing  round  the  cross. 

But  what  did  he  mean  when  he  made  this  acknowl- 
edgment ?  It  has  been  held  that  all  which  he,  a 
heathen,  could  imply  was  that  Jesus  was  a  son  of 
God  in  the  sense  in  which  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
believed  Hercules,  Castor  and  other  heroes  to  be 
sons  of  their  deities.  This  may  be  near  the  truth  ; 
but  his  soul  was  moved,  his  mind  was  opened  ;  and, 
once  in  the  way,  he  could  easily  proceed  further  in 
the   knowledge  of  Christ.     Tradition    says  that  his 

*  Wap^GT rjKLi^  f  f  kvavTiag  avrov. 


THE    SIGNS  293 


name  was  Longinus,  and  that  he  became  bishop  of 
Cappadocia  and  ultimately  died  a  martyr. 

Have  we  not  here  the  rending  of  a  third  veil  ? 
There  is  a  veil  on  the  face  of  God  which  requires  to 
be  removed  ;  and  there  is  a  veil  on  the  face  of  eter- 
nity which  requires  to  be  removed  ;  but  the  most 
fatal  veil  is  that  which  is  on  the  heart  of  the  indi- 
vidual and  prevents  him  from  seeing  the  glory  of 
Christ.  It  was  on  the  faces  of  nearly  all  the  multi- 
tude that  day  assembled  round  the  cross.  It  was 
on  the  faces  of  the  poor  soldiers  gambling  within  a 
few  feet  of  the  dying  Saviour  ;  in  their  case  it  was  a 
veil  of  insensibility.  It  was  on  the  faces  of  the 
ecclesiastics  and  the  mob  of  Jerusalem  ;  and  in  their 
case  it  was  a  thick  veil  of  prejudice.  The  greatest 
sight  ever  witnessed  on  earth  was  there  beside 
them  ;  but  they  were  stoneblind  to  it 

The  glory  of  Christ  is  still  the  greatest  sight 
which  anyone  can  see  between  the  cradle  and  the 
grave.  And  it  is  now  as  near  everyone  of  us  as  it 
was  to  the  ciowd  on  Calvary.  Some  see  it  ;  for  the 
veil  upon  their  faces  is  rent  ;  and  they  are  transfixed 
and  transformed  by  the  sight.  But  others  are  blinded. 
How  near  one  may  be  to  Jesus,  how  much  mixed  up 
with  His  cause,  how  well  informed  about  His  life 
and  doctrine,  and  yet  never  see  His  glory  or  know 
Him  as  a  personal  Saviour  !     It  is  said  that  people 


294  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

may  spend  a  lifetime  in  the  midst  of  perfect  scenery 
and  yet  never  awake  to  its  charm  ;  but  by  comes  a 
painter  or  poet  and  drinks  the  beauty  in,  till  he  is 
intoxicated  with  it  and  puts  it  into  a  glorious  pic- 
ture or  a  deathless  song.  So  can  some  remember  a 
time  when  Jesus,  though  in  a  sense  well  known,  was 
nothing  to  them  ;  but  at  a  certain  point  a  veil 
seemed  to  rend  and  an  entire  change  supervened  ; 
and  ever  since  then  the  world  is  full  of  Him  ;  His 
name  seems  written  on  the  stars  and  among  the  flow- 
ers ;  He  is  their  first  thought  when  they  wake  and 
their  last  before  they  sleep  ;  He  is  with  them  in  the 
house  and  by  the  way  ;   He  is  their  all  in  all. 

This  is  the  most  critical  rending  of  the  veil  ;  be- 
cause, when  it  takes  place,  the  others  follow.  When 
we  have  our  eyes  opened  to  see  the  glory  of  Christ, 
we  soon  know  the  Father  also  ;  and  the  darkness 
passes  from  the  face  of  eternity,  because  eternity 
for  us  is  to  be  forever  with  the  Lord. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 
THE    DEAD    CHRIST 

IT  was  not  usual  to  remove  bodies  from  the  cross 
immediately  after  their  death.  They  were  al- 
lowed to  hang,  exposed  to  the  weather,  till  they 
rotted  and  fell  to  pieces  ;  or  they  might  be  torn  by 
birds  or  beasts  ;  and  at  last  a  fire  was  perhaps  kin- 
dled beneath  the  cross  to  rid  the  place  of  the  re- 
mains. Such  was  the  Roman  custom  ;  but  among 
the  Jews  there  was  more  scrupulosity.  In  their  law 
there  stood  this  provision  :  "If  a  man  have  com- 
mitted a  sin  worthy  of  death,  and  he  be  put  to 
death,  and  thou  hang  him  on  a  tree,  his  body  shall 
not  remain  all  night  upon  the  tree,  but  thou  shalt  in 
anywise  bury  him  that  day  (for  he  that  is  hanged  is 
accursed  of  God)  ;  that  thy  land  be  not  defiled 
which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee  for  an  inheri- 
tance." ^-  Whether  or  not  the  Jews  always  tried  to 
get  this  provision  observed  in  executions  carried  out 

*  Deut.  xxi.  22,  23. 


296  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEA  TH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

in  their  midst  by  tb-^ir  Roman  masters,  we  cannot 
tell  ;  but  it  was  natural  that  they  should  do  so  in 
reference  to  executions  carried  out  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  holy  city  and  at  Passover  time.  In  the 
present  instance  there  was  the  additional  reason, 
that  the  morrow  of  the  execution  of  Jesus  was  a 
high  day — it  was  the  Sabbath  of  the  Passover — a 
hind  of  double  Sabbath,  which  would  have  been 
desecrated  by  any  unclean  thing,  like  an  unburied 
corpse,  exposed  to  view.  The  Jews  were  extremely 
sensitive  about  such  points.  At  any  time  they  re- 
garded themselves  as  unclean  if  they  touched  a  dead 
body,  and  they  had  to  go  through  a  process  of 
purgation  before  their  sense  of  sanctity  was  restored. 
But  on  the  occasion  of  a  Passover  Sabbath  they 
would  have  felt  it  to  be  a  desecration  if  any  dead 
thing  had  even  met  their  eyes  or  rested  uncovered 
on  the  soil  of  their  city.  Therefore  their  representa- 
tives went  to  the  Roman  governor  and  begged  that 
the  three  crucified  men  should  be  put  to  death  by 
clubbing  and  their  bodies  buried  before  the  Sabbath 
commenced. 

The  suggestion  has  often  been  made  that,  behind 
this  pretended  scrupulosity,  their  real  aim  was  to 
inflict  additional  pain  and  indignity  on  Jesus.  The 
breaking  of  the  bones  of  the  body,  by  smashing 
them  with   clubs,  was  a  peculiarly  horrible  form  of 


THE   DEAD    CHRIST  297 

punishment  sometimes  inflicted  by  the  Romans* 
It  was  nearly  as  cruel  and  degrading  as  crucifixion 
itself  ;  and  it  was  an  independent  punishment,  not 
conjoined  with  crucifixion.  But  the  Jews  in  this 
case  attempted  to  get  them  united,  that  Jesus,  be- 
sides being  crucified,  might,  so  to  speak,  die  yet 
another  death  of  the  most  revolting  description. 
The  Evangelist,  however,  throws  no  doubt  on  the 
motive  which  they  put  forward — namely,  that  the 
Passover  Sabbath  might  be  saved  from  desecration 
— and,  although  their  insatiable  hatred  may  have 
made  them  suggest  clubbing  as  the  mode  by  which 
His  death  should  be  hastened,  we  need  not  question 
that  their  scruples  were  genuine.  It  is  an  extraor- 
dinary instance  of  the  game  of  self-deception  which 
the  human  conscience  can  play.  Here  were  people 
fresh  from  the  greatest  crime  ever  committed — their 
hands  still  reeking,  one  might  say,  with  the  blood 
of  the  Innocent — and  their  consciences,  while  utter- 
ly untouched  with  remorse  for  this  crime,  are  anx- 
ious about  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  and  the 
ceremonial  defilement  of  the  soil.  It  is  the  most 
extraordinary  illustration  which  history  records  of 
how  zeal  for  what  may  be  called  the  body  of  religion 

*  "  Crurifragiu/n,  as  it  was  called,  consisted  in  striking  the 
legs  of  the  sufferer  with  a  heavy  mallet." — Farrar,  Life  of 
Christ,  ii.,  423. 


298  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

may  be  utterly  destitute  of  any  connection  with  its 
spirit.  It  is  surely  a  solemn  warning  to  make  sure 
that  every  outward  religious  act  is  accompanied  by 
the  genuine  outgoing  of  the  heart  to  God,  and  a 
warning  that,  if  we  love  not  our  brother,  whom  we 
have  seen,  neither  can  we  be  lovers  of  God,  whom 
we  have  not  seen. 

Pilate  hearkened  to  the  request  of  the  Jews,  and 
orders  were  given  to  the  soldiers  to  act  accordingly. 
Then  the  ghastly  work  began.  They  broke  the  legs 
of  the  malefactor  on  the  one  side  of  Jesus,  and  then 
those  of  the  other  on  the  opposite  side.  The  peni- 
tent thief  was  not  spared  ;  but  what  a  difference  his 
penitence  made  !  To  his  companion  this  was  noth- 
ing but  an  additional  indignity  ;  to  him  it  was  the 
knocking-off  of  the  fetters,  that  his  spirit  might  the 
sooner  wing  its  way  to  Paradise,  where  Christ  had 
trysted  to  meet  him. 

Then  came  the  turn  of  Jesus.  But,  when  the  sol- 
diers looked  at  Him,  they  saw  that  their  work  was 
unnecessary  :  death  had  been  before  them  ;  the 
drooping  head  and  pallid  frame  were  those  of  a 
dead  man.  Only,  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure, 
one  of  them  thrust  his  spear  into  the  body,  making 
a  w^ound  so  large  that  Jesus,  when  He  was  risen, 
could  invite  the  doubting  Thomas  to  thrust  his  hand 


THE   DEAD    CHRIST  297 

into  it  ;  and,  as  the  weapon  was  drawn  forth  again, 
there  came  out  after  it  blood  and  water. 

St.  John,  who  was  on  the  spot  and  saw  all  this 
taking  place,  seems  to  have  perceived  in  the  scene 
an  unusual  importance  ;  for  he  adds  to  his  report 
these  words  of  confirmation,  as  if  he  were  sealing 
an  official  document,  "  And  he  that  saw  it  bare 
record  ;  and  his  record  is  true  ;  and  he  knoweth 
that  he  saith  true,  that  ye  might  believe."  Why 
should  he  interrupt  the  flow  of  his  narrative  to  add 
these  words  of  assurance  ? 

Some  have  thought  that  he  was  moved  to  do  so 
by  a  heresy  which  sprang  up  in  the  early  Church  to 
the  effect  that  Christ  was  not  really  human  :  His 
body,  it  was  said,  was  only  a  phantom  body,  and 
therefore  His  death  was  only  an  apparent  death. 
In  opposition  to  such  a  notion  St.  John  directs  at- 
tention to  the  realistic  details,  which  prove  so  con- 
clusively that  this  was  a  real  man  and  that  He  died 
a  real  death.  Of  course  that  ancient  heresy  has 
long  ceased  to  trouble  ;  there  are  none  now  who 
deny  that  Jesus  was  a  man.  Yet  it  is  curious  how 
the  tendency  ever  and  anon  reappears  to  evaporate 
the  facts  of  His  life.  At  the  present  hour  there  are 
eminent  Christian  teachers  in  Europe  who  are  treat- 
ing the  resurrection  of  the  Lord  in  very  much  the 
same  way  as  these  early  Docetae  treated  His  death — 


300  THE    TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

as  a  kind  of  figure  of  speech,  not  to  be  understood 
too  literally.  Against  such  the  Church  must  lift  up 
the  crude  facts  of  the  resurrection  as  St.  John  did 
those  of  the  death  of  the  Saviour.*  in  our  genera- 
tion teachers  of  every  kind  are  appealing  to  Christ 
and  putting  Him  in  the  centre  of  theology  ;  but  we 
must  ask  them,  What  Christ  ?  Is  it  the  Christ  of 
the  Scriptures  :  the  Christ  who  in  the  beginning 
was  with  God  ;  who  was  incarnated  ;  who  died  for 
the  sins  of  the  world  ;  who  was  raised  from  the  dead 
and  reigns  for  evermore  ?  We  must  not  delude  our- 
selves with  words  :  onl)^  the  Christ  of  the  Scriptures 
could  have  brought  us  the  salvation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. 

What  excited  the  wonder  of  St.  John  is  supposed 
by  others  to  have  been  the  fulfilment  of  two  pas- 
sages of  the  Old  Testament  Scripture  which  he 
quotes.  It  appeared  to  be  a  matter  of  mere  chance 
that  the  soldiers,  contrary  to  the  intention  of  the 
Jews,  refrained  from  breaking  the  bones  of  Jesus  ; 
yet  a  sacred  word,  of  which  they  knew  nothing, 
written  hundreds  of  years  before,  had  said,  "  A 
bone  of  Him   shall  not  be  broken,"      It  seemed  the 

*  The  words  that  follow  in  this  paragraph  are  a  reminiscence 
of  a  singularly  eloquent  and  powerful  passage  in  a  speech  of  Dr. 
Maclaren,  of  Manchester,  delivered  last  year  in  Edinburgh. 


THE  DEAD    CHRIST  301 


most  casual  circumstance  that  the  soldier  plunged 
the  spear  into  the  side  of  Jesus,  to  make  sure  that 
He  was  dead  ;  yet  an  ancient  oracle,  of  which  he 
knew  nothing,  had  said,  "  They  shall  look  on  Him 
whom  they  pierced."  Thus,  by  the  overruling 
providence  of  God,  the  soldiers,  going  with  rude 
unconcern  about  their  work,  were  unconsciously  ful- 
filling the  Scriptures  ;  and  those  who  both  saw  what 
they  had  done  and  knew  the  Scriptures  recognised 
the  Divine  finger  pointing  out  Jesus  as  the  Sent  of 
God. 

The  first  of  these  texts  is  generally  supposed  *  to 
be  taken  from  the  account  in  Exodus  of  the  institu- 
tion of  the  Passover,  and  originally  it  refers  to  the 
paschal  lamb,  which  was  to  be  eaten  whole,  the 
breaking  of  its  bones  being  forbidden,  St.  John's 
idea  is  that  Christ  was  to  be  the  paschal  lamb  of  the 
New  Dispensation,  and  that  therefore  Providence 
took  care  that  nothing  should  be  done  to  destroy 
His  resemblance  to  the  type,  as  would  have  hap- 
pened if  His  bones  had  been  broken.  The  Passover 
was  the  great  event  of  the  year  in  all  the  genera- 
tions of  Jewish  history.  It  was  intended  to  carry 
the  minds  of  God's  people  back  to  the  wonderful 
scenes  of  divine  grace  and   power  in  which  their  ex- 

*  Weiss,  however,  supposes  Psalm  xxxiv.  20  to  be  the  refer- 
ence. 


302  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

istence  as  a  nation  had  begun,  when  God  liberated 
them  from  their  bondage  and  led  them  out  of  Egypt 
with  a  mighty  hand.  The  centre  of  the  solemnity 
was  the  slaying  and  eating  of  the  paschal  lamb. 
This  reminded  them  of  how  in  Egypt  the  blood  of 
this  lamb,  sprinkled  on  the  lintels  and  doorposts  of 
their  huts,  saved  them  from  the  visit  of  the  destroy- 
ing angel,  who  was  passing  through  the  land  ;  and 
how,  at  the  same  time,  the  flesh  of  the  lamb  was 
eaten  by  the  people,  with  their  loins  girt  and  staves 
in  their  hands,  and  supplied  them  with  strength  for 
their  adventurous  journey.  Thus  through  all.  ages 
it  impressed  on  them  two  things — that  the  sins  of 
the  past  required  to  be  expiated,  and  that  strength 
had  to  be  obtained  from  above  for  the  new  stage  of 
their  history  on  which  at  the  annual  Passover  they 
might  be  supposed  to  be  entering.  In  the  same 
way,  in  the  New  Dispensation,  are  our  minds  ever 
to  revert  to  the  marvellous  revelation  of  the  grace 
and  saving  power  of  God  in  which  Christianity  orig- 
inated ;  and  in  the  very  midst  is  the  Lamb  slain, 
who  is  both  the  expiation  of  the  sins  that  are  past 
and  the  strength  requisite  for  the  conflict  and  the 
pilgrimage.  "  If  we  walk  in  the  light,  as  He  is  in 
the  light,  we  have  fellowship  one  with  another,  and 
the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  His  Son  cleanseth  us  from 
all  sin." 


THE  DEAD    CHRIST  303 

The  other  words  of  prophecy  which  appeared  to 
St.  John  to  be  fulfilled  on  this  occasion  were,  "  They 
shall  look  on  Him  whom  they  pierced."  They  are 
from  a  passage  in  Zechariah,  which  is  so  remarkable 
that  it  may  be  quoted  in  full — "  And  I  will  pour  out 
on  the  house  of  David  and  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem  the  spirit  of  grace  and  of  supplications, 
and  they  shall  look  upon  Me  whom  they  have 
pierced,  and  they  shall  mourn  for  Him,  as  one 
mourneth  for  his  only  son,  and  shall  be  in  bitter- 
ness for  Him,  as  one  that  is  in  bitterness  for  his 
firstborn."  Jehovah  speaks  figuratively  of  the  op- 
position shown  to  Himself  and  His  servants  as 
piercing  Him  with  pain,  just  as  we  say  of  an  insult 
that  it  cuts  to  the  heart.  But  in  the  death  of  Jesus 
the  figure  became  a  fact  :  against  the  sacred  person 
of  the  Son  of  God  the  spear  was  lifted  up,  and  it 
was  driven  home  without  compunction.  Evidently 
St.  John  thinks  of  this  rather  as  the  act  of  the  Jew- 
ish people  than  of  the  Roman  soldier.  But  the 
prophecy  speaks  not  only  of  the  people  piercing 
God,  but  of  their  looking  at  their  own  work  with 
shame  and  tears.  At  Pentecost  this  began  to  be 
fulfilled  ;  and  in  every  age  since  there  have  been 
"members  of  the  Jewish  race  who  have  acknowledged 
their  guilt  in  the  transaction.  The  full  acknowledg- 
ment, however,  still  lingers  ;  but  the  conversion  of 


304  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OE  JESUS'  CHRIST 

God's  ancient  people,  when  it  comes,  must  begin 
with  this.  Indeed,  every  human  being  to  whom  his 
own  true  relation  to  Christ  is  revealed  must  make 
the  same  acknowledgment.  It  was  the  heart  not  of 
a  few  soldiers  or  of  the  representatives  of  a  single 
people,  but  of  the  human  race,  that  hardened  itself 
against  Him.  It  was  the  sin  of  the  world  that  nailed 
Him  to  the  tree  and  shed  His  blood.  Every  sinner 
may  therefore  feel  that  he  had  a  hand  in  it  ;  and  it 
is  only  when  we  see  our  own  sin  as  aiming  at  the 
very  existence  of  God  in  the  death  of  His  Son  that 
we  comprehend  it  in  all  its  enormity. 

There  have  been  many  who  have  found  the  reason 
for  St.  John's  wonder  in  the  fact  that  out  of  the 
wounded  side  there  flowed  blood  and  water. 

From  a  corpse,  when  it  is  pierced — -at  least,  if  it 
has  been  some  time  dead — it  is  not  usual  for  any- 
thing to  flow.  But  whether  St.  John  reflected  on 
this  or  not  we  cannot  tell.  What  fascinated  him 
was  simply  the  fact  that  the  piercing  of  the  body  of 
the  Saviour  made  it  a  fountain  out  of  which  sprang 
this  double  outflow.  When  the  rock  in  the  wilder- 
ness was  smitten  with  the  rod  of  Moses,  there  issued 
from  it  a  stream  which  was  life  to  the  perishing 
multitude  ;  but  in  the  double  stream  coming  from 
the  side  of  Jesus  St.  John  saw  somethina-  better  even 


THE  DEAD    CHRIST  305 

than  that  ;   because  to  him  the  blood  symbolized  the 

atonement,  and  the  water  the  Spirit   of  Christ  ;  and 

in  these  two  all  our  salvation  lies.*     So  we  sing  in 

the  most  precious  of  all  our  hymns,— 

?     " 

Let  the  water  and  the  blood  —    — . 

From  Thy  living  side  which  flowed 

Be  of  sin  the  double  cure — 

Cleanse  me  from  its  guilt  and  power. 

Although,  however,  St.  John  did  not  perhaps 
speculate  on  the  reason  why  this  double  outflow  took 
place  from  the  wounded  side,  others  have  occupied 
themselves  with  the  question. 

Some  f  have  considered  the  phenomenon  alto- 
gether abnormal,  and  endeavoured  to  explain  it 
from  the  peculiarity  of  our  Lord's  humanity. 
Though  He  died,  He  was  not,  like  other  men,  to 
see  corruption  ;  His  body  was  to  escape  in  a  few 
hours,  transfigured  and  glorious,  from  the  grasp  of 
death.  This  transforming  process,  which  issued  in 
His  resurrection,  began  as  soon  as  He  was  dead  ; 
and  the  spear-thrust,  breaking  in  on  it,  so  to  speak, 
revealed  something  altogether  unique  in  the  consti- 
tution of  His  body. 


*  "  On  the  symbolism  of  this  phenomenon  see  the  excursus  in 
Westcott's  Gospel  of  St.  John,  pp.  284-86. 
f  E.g.,  Lange,  characteristically. 


3o6  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Others,  keeping  within  the  limits  of  ascertained 
fact,  have  given  a  totally  different  yet  a  peculiarly 
interesting  explanation.  They  have  directed  atten- 
tion to  the  suddenness  of  Christ's  death.  It  was 
usual  for  crucified  persons  to  linger  for  days  ;  but 
He  did  not  survive  more  than  six  hours.  Yet  im- 
mediately before  dying  He  again  and  again  cried 
with  a  loud  voice,  as  if  His  bodily  force  were  by  no 
means  exhausted.  Suddenly,  however,  with  a  loud 
cry  His  life  terminated.  To  what  could  this  be 
due  ?  It  is  said  that  sometimes,  under  the  pressure 
of  intense  mental  and  physical  agony,  the  heart 
bursts  ;  there  is  a  shriek,  and  of  course  death  is  in- 
stantaneous. We  speak  of  people  dying  of  a  bioken 
heart — ^using  the  phrase  only  figuratively — but  some- 
times it  can  be  used  literally  :  the  heart  is  actually 
ruptured  with  grief.  Now,  it  is  said  that,  when  this 
takes  place,  the  blood  contained  in  the  heart  is 
poured  into  a  sac  by  which  it  is  surrounded  ;  and 
there  it  separates  into  two  substances — a  clotty  sub- 
stance of  the  colour  of  blood  and  a  pure,  colourless 
substance  like  water.  And,  if  the  sac,  when  in  this 
condition,  were  pierced  by  a  spear  or  any  other  in- 
strument, there  would  flow  out  a  large  quantity  of 
botn  substances,  which  would  by  an  unscientific 
spectator  be  described  as  blood  and  water. 

It  was  by  an  English  medical  man  that  this  theory 


THE   DEAD    CHRIST  307 

was  fiist  propounded  fifty  years  ago,*  and  it  has 
been  adopted  by  other  medical  men,  equally  famous 
for  their  scientific  eminence  and  Christian  character, 
such  as  the  late  Professor  Begbie  and  Sir  James 
Simpson.  The  latter  well  brings  out  the  point  and 
the  pathos  of  this  view  of  the  Saviour's  death  in 
these  words  :  f  "It  has  always  appeared — to  my 
medical  mind  at  least — that  this  view  of  the  mode 
by  which  death  was  produced  in  the  human  body  of 
Christ  intensifies  all  our  thoughts  and  ideas  regard- 
ing the  immensity  of  the  sacrifice  which  He  made 
for  our  sinful  race  upon  the  cross.  Nothing  can  be 
more  striking  and  startling  than  the  passiveness 
with  which,  for  our  sakes,  God  as  man  submitted 
His  incarnate  body  to  the  horrors  and  tortures  of 
the  crucifixion.  But  our  wonderment  at  the  stupen- 
dous sacrifice  increases  when  we  reflect  that,  whilst 
thus  enduring  for  our  sins  the  most  cruel  and  agonis- 
ing form  of  corporeal  death,  He  was  ultimately 
slain,  not  by  the  effects  of  the  anguish  of  His  cor- 
poreal frame,  but  by  the  effects  of  the  mightier  an- 
guish of  His  mind  ;  the  fleshly  walls  of  His  heart — 
like  the  veil,  as  it  were,  in  the  temple  of  His  body 
• — becoming  rent  and  riven,  as  for  us  He  poured  out 

*  Stroud  in  his  treatise  On  the  Physical  Cause  of  the  Death  of 
Christ. 

\  Given  in  Hanna's  The  Last  Day  of  our  Lonfs  Passion. 


3o8  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH'  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

His  soul  unto  death — the  travail  of  His  soul  in  that 
awful  hour  thus  standing  out  as  unspeakably  more 
bitter  and  dreadful  than  even  the  travail  of  His 
body." 

In  this  chapter  we  have  been  moving  somewhat 
in  the  region  of  speculation  and  conjecture,  and  we 
have  not  rigidly  ascertained  what  is  logically  tenable 
and  what  is  not.  This  is  a  place  of  mystery,  where 
dim  yet  imposing  meanings  peep  out  on  us  In  what- 
ever direction  we  turn.  We  have  called  the  scene 
the  Dead  Christ.  But  who  does  not  see  that  the 
dead  Christ  is  so  interesting  and  wonderful  because 
He  is  also  the  living  Christ  ?  He  lives  ;  He  is  h«re  ; 
He  is  with  us  now.  Yet  the  converse  is  also  true — 
that  the  living  Christ  is  to  us  so  wonderful  and  ador- 
able because  He  was  dead.  The  fact  that  He  is 
alive  inspires  us  with  strength  and  hope  ;  but  it  is 
by  the  memory  of  His  death  that  He  is  commended 
to  the  trust  of  our  burdened  consciences  and  the 
love  of  our  sympathetic  hearts. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

THE  BURIAL 

THERE  is  a  hard  and  shallow  philosophy  which 
regards  it  as  a  matter  of  complete  indifference 
what  becomes  of  the  body  after  the  soul  has  left  it 
and  affects  contempt  of  all  funeral  ceremonies.  But 
the  instincts  of  mankind  are  wiser.  In  ancient  times 
it  was  considered  one  of  the  worst  of  misfortunes  to 
miss  decent  burial  ;  and,  although  this  sentiment 
was  mixed  with  superstition,  there  was  beneath  it  a 
healthy  instinct.  There  is  a  dignity  of  the  body  as 
well  as  of  the  soul,  especially  when  it  is  a  temple  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  ;  and  there  is  a  majesty  about  death 
which  cannot  be  ignored  without  loss  to  the  living,* 
It  is  with  a  sense  of  pain  and  humiliation,  as  if  a 
dishonour  were  being  done  to  human  nature,  that 
we  see  a  funeral  at  which  everything  betokens  hurry, 
shabbiness  and  slovenliness.     On  the  contrary,  the 

*  The  most  beautiful  thing  ever  said  about  the  bodies  of  the 
dead  is  in  the  Shorter  Catechism  :  "  And  their  bodies,  being  still 
united  to  Christ,  do  rest  in  their  graves  till  the  resurrection." 


3IO  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 

satisfaction  is  not  morbid  with  which  we  see  a 
funeral  conducted  with  solemnity  and  chaste  pomp. 
And,  when  someone  falls  whose  career  has  been  one 
of  exXraordinary  achievement  and  beneficence,  and 
who  has  become 

Dn  fortune's  crowning  slope 
The  pillar  of  a  nation's  hope, 
The  centre  of  a  world's  desire, 

then,  as  the  remains  arc  borne  amidst  an  empire's 
lamentation  to  rest  "  under  the  cross  of  gold  that 
shines  over  river  and  city,"  and  the  tolling  bells 
and  echoing  cannon  sound  over  hushed  London,  and 
the  silent  masses  line  the  streets,  and  the  learned 
and  the  noble  stand  uncovered  around  the  open 
grave,  it  would  be  a  diseased  and  churlish  mind 
which  did  not  feel  the  spell  of  the  pageant. 

Thus  ought  the  great,  the  wise  and  the  good  to 
be  buried.  How  then  was  He  buried  whom  all  now 
agree  to  call  the  Greatest,  the  Wisest  and  the  Best  ? 


The  three  corpses  were  taken  down  towards  even- 
ing, before  the  Jewish  Sabbath  set  in,  which  com- 
menced at  sunset.  Probably  the  two  robbers  were 
buried  on  the  spot,  crosses  and  all,  or  they  were 
hurriedly  carried   off  to   some  obscure  and  accursed 


THE   BURIAL  31 1 


ditch,  where  the  remains  of  criminals  were  wont  to 
be  unceremoniously  thrust  underground. 

This  would  have  been  the  fate  of  Jesus  too,  had 
not  an  unexpected  hand  interposed.  It  was  the 
humane  custom  of  the  Romans  to  give  the  corpses 
of  criminals  to  their  friends,  if  they  chose  to  ask  for 
them  ;  and  a  claimant  appeared  for  the  body  of 
Jesus,  to  whom  Pilate  was  by  no  means  loath  to 
grant  it. 

This  is  the  first  time  that  Joseph  of  Arimathea  ap- 
pears on  the  stage  of  the  gospel  history  ;  and  of  his 
previous  life  very  little  is  known.  Even  the  town 
from  which  he  derives  his  appellation  is  not  known 
with  certainty.  The  fact  that  he  owned  a  garden 
and  burying-place  in  the  environs  of  Jerusalem  does 
not  necessarily  indicate  that  he  was  a  resident  there  ; 
for  pious  Jews  had  all  a  desire  to  be  buried  in  the 
precincts  of  the  sacred  city  ;  and,  indeed,  the  whole 
neighbourhood  is  still  honeycombed  with  tombs. 

Joseph  was  a  rich  man  ;  and  this  may  have  availed 
him  in  his  application  to  Pilate.  Those  who  possess 
wealth  or  social  position  or  distinguished  talents 
can  serve  Christ  in  ways  which  are  not  accessible  to 
His  humbler  followers.  Only,  before  such  gifts  can 
be  acceptable  to  Him,  those  to  whom  they  belong 
must  count  them  but  loss  and  dung  for  His  sake. 

Joseph  was  a  councillor.     It  has  been  conjectured 


312   THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

that  the  council  of  which  he  was  a  member  was  that 
of  Arimathea  ;  but  the  observation  that  he  "  had 
not  consented  to  the  counsel  and  deed  of  them," 
which  obviously  refers  to  the  Sanhedrim,  makes  it 
more  than  probable  that  it  was  of  this  august  body- 
he  was  a  member.  No  doubt  he  absented  himself 
deliberately  from  the  meeting  at  which  Jesus  was 
condemned,  knowing  well  beforehand  that  the  pro- 
ceedings would  be  utterly  painful  and  revolting  to 
his  feelings.  For  "  he  was  a  good  man  and  a  just." 
We  are,  however,  told  more  about  him  :  "he 
waited  for  the  kingdom  of  God."  This  is  a  phrase 
applied  elsewhere  also  in  the  New  Testament  to  the 
devout  in  Palestine  at  this  period  ;  and  it  designates 
in  a  striking  way  the  peculiarity  of  their  piety. 
The  age  was  spiritually  dead.  Religion  was  repre- 
sented by  the  high-and-dry  formalism  of  the  Phari- 
sees on  the  one  hand  and  the  cold  and  worldly 
scepticism  of  the  Sadducees  on  the  other.  In  the 
synagogues  the  people  asked  for  bread  and  were 
offered  a  stone.  The  scribes,  instead  of  letting  the 
pure  river  of  Bible  truth  flow  over  the  land,  choked 
up  its  course  with  the  sand  of  their  soulless  com- 
mentary. Yet  there  are  good  people  even  in  the 
worst  of  times.  There  were  truly  pious  souls  sprin- 
kled up  and  down  Palestine.  They  were  like  lights 
shining  here   and   there,    at   great   intervals,    in    the 


THE   BURIAL  Z^Z 


darkness.  They  could  not  but  feel  that  they  were 
strangers  and  foreigners  in  their  own  age  and  coun- 
try, and  they  lived  in  the  past  and  the  future.  The 
prophets,  on  whose  words  they  nouiished  their 
souls,  foretold  a  good  time  coming,  when  on  those 
who  sat  in  darkness  there  would  burst  a  great  light. 
For  this  better  time,  then,  they  were  waiting. 
They  were  waiting  to  hear  the  voice  of  prophecy 
echoing  once  more  through  the  land  and  waking  the 
population  from  its  spiritual  slumber.  They  were 
waiting,  ab.)V2  all,  for  the  Messiah,  if  they  might 
dare  to  hope  that  He  would  come  in  their  days. 

Such  were  the  souls  among  which  both  John  and 
Jesus  found  their  auditors.  All  such  must  have 
welcomed  the  voices  of  the  Baptist  and  his  Succes- 
sor as  at  least  those  of  prophets  who  were  striving 
earnestly  to  deal  with  the  evils  of  the  time.  But 
whether  Jesus  was  He  that  should  come  or  whether 
they  should  look  for  another,  some  of  them  stood  in 
doubt.  Among  these  perhaps  was  Joseph.  He 
was,  it  is  said,  a  disciple  of  Jesus,  but  secretly,  for 
fear  of  the  Jews.  He  had  faith,  but  not  faith 
enough  to  confess  Christ  and  take  the  consequences. 
Even  during  the  trial  of  Jesus  he  satisfied  his  con- 
science by  being  absent  from  the  meeting  of  the 
Sanhedrim,  instead  of  standing  up  in  his  place  and 
avowing  his  convictions. 


314  THE   TRIAL  AXD  DEATH  OF  JESUS'  CHRIST 

Such  he  had  been  up  to  this  point.  But  now  in 
the  face  of  danger  he  identified  himself  with  Jesus. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  what  it  was  that  brought 
him  to  decision.  It  was  the  excess  of  wickedness  in 
his  fellow-councillors,  who  at  length  went  to  a  stage 
of  violence  and  injustice  which  allowed  him  to  hesi- 
tate no  longer.  Complete  religious  decision  is  some- 
times brought  about  in  this  way.  Thus,  for  exam- 
ple, one  who  has  been  halting  between  two  opinions, 
or,  at  all  events,  has  never  had  courage  enough 
openly  to  confess  his  convictions,  may  be  some  day 
among  his  fellow-workmen  or  shopmen,  when  re- 
ligion comes  up  as  a  topic  of  conversation  and  is  re- 
ceived with  ridicule,  Christ's  people  being  sneered 
at.  His  doctrines  denied,  and  He  Himself  blas- 
phemed. But  at  last  it  goes  too  far  the  silent, 
half-convinced  disciple  can  stand  it  no  longer  ;  he 
breaks  out  in  indignant  protest  and  stands  confessed 
as  a  Christian.  In  some  such  way  as  this  must  the 
change  of  sentiment  have  taken  place  in  the  mind 
of  Joseph.  He  had  to  defy  the  entire  Sanhedrim  ; 
he  was  putting  himself  in  imminent  peril  ;  but  he 
could  hold  in  no  longer  ;  and,  casting  fear  behind 
his  back,  he  went  in  "  boldly"  to  Pilate  and  begged 
the  body  of  Jesus. 


THE   BURIAL  .315 


11. 

Boldness  in  confessing  Christ  is  apt  to  have  two 
results. 

On  the  one  hand,  it  cows  adversaries.  It  is  not 
said  that  Joseph  got  himself  into  trouble  by  his 
action  on  this  occasion,  or  that  the  Sanhedrim  im- 
mediately commenced  a  persecution  against  him. 
They  were,  indeed,  in  a  state  of  extreme  excite- 
ment, and  they  were  seventy  to  one.  But  some- 
times a  single  bold  man  can  quell  much  more 
numerous  opposition  than  even  this.  It  is  certain 
that  the  consciences  of  many  of  them  were  ill  at 
ease,  and  they  were  by  no  means  prepared  to  chal- 
lenge to  argument  on  the  merits  of  the  case  a  quiet 
and  resolute  man  with  the  elevation  of  whose  char- 
acter they  were  all  acquainted.  It  is  one  of  the 
great  advantages  of  those  who  stand  up  for  Christ 
that  they  have  the  consciences  even  of  their  adversa- 
ries on  their  side. 

The  other  effect  of  boldness  in  confessing  Christ 
is  that  it  brings  out  confession  from  others  who 
have  not  had  in  their  own  breast  enough  of  fire  to 
make  them  act,  but  are  heated  up  to  the  necessary 
temperature  by  example.  It  seems  clear  that  in  this 
way  the  example  of  Joseph  evoked  the  loyalty  of 
Nicodemus. 


3i6  THE  TRIAL  AND  DEA  TIT  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

Nicodemus  was  of  the  same  rank  as  Joseph,  being 
a  member  of  the  Sanhedrim  ;  and  he  was  a  secret 
disciple.  This  is  not  the  first  time  that  he  appears 
on  the  stage  of  the  Gospel  history.  At  the  very 
commencement  of  the  career  of  Jesus  he  had  been 
attracted  to  Him  and  had  gone  so  far  as  to  seek  a 
private  interview  ;  the  account  of  which  is  one  of 
the  most  precious  component  parts  of  the  Gospel 
and  has  made  tens  of  thousands  not  only  believers 
in  Christ  but  witnesses  for  Him.  It  had  not,  how- 
ever, as  much  effect  on  the  man  to  whom  it  was 
originally  vouchsafed,  though  it  ought  to  have  had. 
Nicodemus  ought  to  have  been  one  of  the  earliest 
followers  Of  the  Lord  ;  and  his  position  would  have 
brought  weight  to  the  apostolic  circle.  But  he  hesi- 
tated and  remained  a  secret  disciple.  On  one  occa- 
sion, indeed,  he  spoke  out  :  once,  when  something 
intolerably  unjust  was  said  against  Jesus  in  the 
Sanhedrim,  he  interposed  the  question,  "  Doth  our 
law  judge  any  man  before  it  hear  him  and  know 
what  he  doeth  ?"  But  with  the  angry  answer,  "  Art 
thou  also  of  Galilee  ?"  he  was  shouted  down  ;  and 
he  held  his  peace.  Doubtless,  like  Joseph,  he  ab- 
sented himself  from  the  meeting  of  the  Sanhedrim 
at  which  Jesus  was  condemned  ;  but  the  injustice 
done  was  so  flagrant  that  he  was  ready  to  make  a 
public  protest  against  it.      He   might   not,  however, 


THE   BURIAL  317 


have   had    the   courage   of   his   convictiuns,  had   not 
Joseph  shown  him  the  way. 

Yet  this  must  be  praised  in  Nicodemus,  that  he 
was  a  growing  and  improving  man.  Though  he 
hung  back  for  a  time,  he  came  forward  at  last  ;  and 
better  late  than  never.  It  was  a  happy  hour  for  him 
when  he  was  brought  into  contact  with  Joseph. 
There  are  many  circles  of  friends  where  all  are  in- 
ternally convinced  and  leaning  to  the  right  side, 
and,  if  only  one  would  come  boldly  out,  the  others 
would  willingly  follow.  The  hands  of  Joseph  and 
Nicodemus  met  and  clasped  each  other  round  the 
body  of  their  Redeemer.  There  is  no  love,  or 
friendship,  or  fellowship  like  that  of  those  who  are 
united  to  one  another  through  their  connection  with 
Him. 

III. 

Art  has  described  the  burial  of  our  Lord  with 
great  fulness  of  detail,  drawing  largely  on  the  im- 
agination.    It  has  divided  it  into  several  scenes.* 

There  is,  first,  the  Descent  from  the  Cross,  in 
which,  besides  Joseph  and  Nicodemus,  St.  John  at 
least,  and  sometimes  other  men,  are  represented  as 

*  On  these  and  similar  details  see  The  Life  of  otir  Lord  as 
exempli  fed  in  Works  of  Art,  by  Mrs.  Jameson  (completed  by 
Lady  Eastlake). 


3l3  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE  JESUS  CHE  EST 

extracting  the  nails  and  lowering  the  body  ;  while 
beneath  the  cross  the  holy  women,  among  whom  the 
Virgin  Mary  and  Mary  Magdalene  are  prominent, 
receive  the  precious  burden.  Many  readers  will  re- 
call the  most  famous  of  such  pictures,  that  by  Ru- 
bens in  the  Cathedral  at  Antwerp — an  extreme-ly 
impressive  but  too  sensuous  representation  of  the 
scene  of  busy  affection — wherein  the  corpse  is  being 
let  down  by  means  of  a  great  white  sheet  into 
the  hands  of  the  women,  who  receive  it  tenderly, 
one  foot  resting  on  the  shoulder  of  the  Magdalene. 

Then  there  is  what  is  called  the  Pieta,  or  the 
mourning  of  the  women  over  the  dead  body.  In 
this  scene  the  holy  mother  usually  holds  the  head 
of  her  Son  in  her  lap,  w^hile  the  Magdalene  clasps 
His  feet  and  others  clasp  His  hands.  Next  ensues 
the  Procession  to  the  Sepulchre  ;  and,  last  of  all, 
there  is  the  'Entombment,  which  is  represented  in  a 
great  variety  of  forms. 

On  these  scenes  the  great  painters  have  lavished 
all  the  resources  of  art  ;  but  the  narrative  of  the 
Gospels  is  brief  and  unpictorial.  The  Virgin  is  not 
even  mentioned  ;  and,  although  others  of  the  holy 
women  are  said  to  have  been  there,  it  is  not  sug- 
gested that  they  helped  in  the  labour  of  burial,  but 
only  that  they  followed  and  marked  where  He  w^as 
laid.     Joseph    and    Nicodemus    are    the    prominent 


THE   BURIAL  '     319 


actors,  though  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  they 
were  assisted  by  their  servants  ;  and  the  soldiers 
may  have  lent  a  hand  in  disentangling  the  body. 

It  was  in  a  new  sepulchre,  which  Joseph  had  had 
hewn  out  of  the  rock  for  himself,  in  order  that  after 
death  he  might  lie  in  the  sacred  shadow  of  the  city 
of  God,  that  the  Lord  was  laid.  No  corpse  had 
ever  been  placed  in  it  before.  This  was  a  great  gift 
to  give  to  an  excommunicated  and  crucified  man  ; 
and  it  was  a  most  appropriate  one  ;  for  it  was  meet 
that  the  pure  and  stainless  One,  who  bad  come  to 
make  all  things  new  and,  though  dead,  was  not  to 
see  corruption,  should  rest  in  an  undefiled  sepul- 
chre. Similarly  appropriate  and  suggestive  was  the 
new  linen  cloth,  which  Joseph  bought  expressly  for 
the  purpose  of  enwinding  the  body.  Nor  was  Nico- 
demus  behind  in  affection  and  sacrifice.  He  brought 
*'  a  mixture  of  myrrh  and  aloes,  about  an  hundred 
pound  weight."  This  may  appear  an  enormous 
quantity,  but  custom  was  very  lavish  in  such  gifts  ; 
at  the  funeral  of  Herod  the  Great,  for  example,  the 
spices  were  carried  by  five  hundred  bearers. 

The  tomb  was  Cn  a  garden — another  touch  of  ap- 
propriateness and  beauty.  The  spot  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  far  from  the  place  of  .execution  ;  but 
whether  it  was  as  near  as  it  is  represented  to  have 
been  in  the  traditional  site  may  well  be  doubted. 


320  THE   TRIAL  AND  DEATH  OE JESUS  CHRIST 


The  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  includes  within 
its  precincts  both  the  Lord's  tomb  and  the  hole  in 
the  rock  in  which  stood  His  cross  ;  and  the  two  are 
only  thirty  yards  apart.*  But  it  is  highly  question- 
able whether  the  identification  of  either  is  possible. 
Still,  this  may  be  said  to  be  the  most  famous  bit  of 
the  entire  surface  of  the  globe.  Christendom  ac- 
cepted the  tradition,  w^hich  dates  from  the  time  of 
Constantine,  and  since  then  pilgrims  have  flocked 
to  the  spot  from  every  land.  It  was  for  the  posses- 
sion of  this  shrine  that  the  Crusades  were  under- 
taken, and  at  the  present  day  the  Churches  of 
Christendom  fight  for  a  footing  in  it. 

We  may  have  no  sympathy  with  the  practice  of 
pilgrimages  and  little  interest  in  the  identification 
of  holy  places  ;  but  the  holy  sepulchre  cannot  but 
attract  the  believing  heart.  It  was  a  practice  of  the 
piety  of  former  days  to  meditate  among  the  tombs. 
The  piety  of  the  present  day  inclines  to  more  cheer- 
ful and,  let  us  hope,  not  less  healthy  exercises.  But 
every  man  with  any  depth  of  nature  must  linger 
sometimes  beside  the  graves  of  his  loved  ones  ; 
every  man  of  any  seriousness  must  think  sometimes 
of  his  own  grave.  And  in  such  moments  what  can 
be  so  helpful  as  to  pilgrim  in  spirit  to  the  tomb  of 


Many  interesting  details  in  Ross's  Cradle  of  Christianity. 


THE   BURJAL  321 

Ilira    who    said,    "  I    am    the    resutrection    and    the 
life"  ? 

In  comparison  with  the  great  ones  of  the  earth 
Jesus  had  but  a  humble  funeral  ;  yet  in  the  char- 
acter of  those  who  did  Him  the  last  honours  it  could 
not  have  been  surpassed  ;  and  it  was  rich  in  love, 
which  can  well  take  the  place  of  a  great  deal  of  cere- 
mony. So  at  last,  stretched  out  in  the  new  tomb, 
wherein  man  had  never  lain,  enwrapped  in  an  aro- 
matic bed  of  spices  and  breathed  round  by  the  fra- 
grance of  tlowers,  with  the  white  linen  round  Him 
and  the  napkin  which  liid  the  wounds  of  the  thorns 
about  His  brow,  while  the  great  stone  vvhich  formed 
the  door  stood  between  Him  and  the  world,  He  lay 
down  to  rest.  It  was  evening,  and  the  Sabbath 
drew^  on  ;  and  the  Sabbath  of  His  life  had  come. 
His  work  was  completed  ;  persecution  and  hatred 
could  not  reach  Him  any  more  ;  He  was  w^here  the 
wicked  cease  from  troubling  and  the  weary  are  at 
rest. 


Date  Due 


I 


